Coach Miguel Menendez - Building Champions in life at Jesuit H.S. in Tampa

Florida Baseball State Champs Tampa Jesuit Coach Miguel Menendez

• Grew up in Key West.
• First introduction to baseball through his grandfather and father.
• Grandfather coached Little League and had the first batting cage and pitching machine on the island.
• Playing and Coaching Career in Key West
• Played on successful high school teams, winning a state championship in his senior year. 
• Attended University of Tampa to play baseball 
• Key West to start coaching & teaching, eventually becoming head coach.
• Transition to Tampa Jesuit
• Tampa Jesuit provided a perfect fit for his faith life, family, and baseball aspirations. 
• Emphasis on Jesuit's support and facilities.
• Success at Tampa Jesuit
• Played in five state championships in nine years. 
• 2020 season impacted by COVID-19, it was their best team.
• Coaching Philosophy and Challenges
• Emphasis on holistic development of player
•  focusing on producing good citizens and human beings.
•  Open door policy for communication with parent
• Importance of building lifelong relationships with players. 
• Faith plays a crucial role in his coaching career and personal life. 
• Decision to move to Tampa Jesuit was also to benefit his family.
• Communication with Parents
  • Advocates for over-communication to avoid confusion and build trust.\
  • Understands parents' perspective as a father of 3 children involved in sports.
• Long-term Impact
  • Cherishes ongoing relationships with former players who reach out for guidance. 
  • Highlights the importance of lifelong connections beyond high school.
• Player Development and Success
  • Mentions former players succeeding at the collegiate and professional levels.
  • Pride in seeing former players succeed both on and off the field.
• Community and Legacy
  • Reflects on the legacy of Al Lopez and his contributions to baseball and the Hispanic community.
  • Personal connection to the local baseball history and its impact on his coaching career.

·  Importance of Jesuit Values

• Emphasis on students at Jesuit developing success in sports and beyond
• Sports as a tool for social interaction and teamwork
• Lifelong lessons from sports
• Back-to-back Tony Saladino tournament championships

·  Notable Alumni & Role Models  F

• Camden Minacci in the Angels organization
• Progression from freshman team to potential major league pitcher
•  Testimony to work ethic and personal growth
• Bennett Lee’s influence and contributions 
• Introduction of book club to foster team culture
• Alumni involvement in current team’s development
   Financial Accessibility
• Jesuit’s need-based financial aid and the step-up program
• Value of Jesuit education
• Cutting son from the team
• Difficult decision but ultimately beneficial for his son
• Life lessons learned and application beyond baseball

·  Guidance for Players

• Helping players navigate college recruitment & career opportunities
• Importance of character development over just athletic performance
• Jesuit baseball approach in developing well-rounded individuals
• The importance of making difficult decisions for the greater good of the team and individual growth
• Great fellow coaches and friends Tim Knowles, Mike Swenson, Louie Martinez, Ryan Stanley, Daniel Gibson, Terry Rupp

Special Thanks to Williams Ross Chernoff's Nomads for the music Makie Elkino
Notes generated in part by DeScript

Transcript

Tampa Jesuit with Coach Menendez

[00:00:00] Mark Corbett: Welcome to BaseballBiz On Deck. I am Mark Carpenter, your host. And with me today, I have the coach of the state champions and that's here in Florida, and we're talking to none other than Mr. Coach himself, Miguel Menden, Menendez., can I screw it up at the very beginning? Hey, how you doing Miguel? 

Coach Miguel Menendez: I'm doing well, Mark.

[00:00:24] Mark Corbett: How are you? I'm doing fine, man. I'm fine. Thank you so much for agreeing to be on the show today. No, no problem. And thank you for having me. I gotta tell you, brother, it was, I've been watching you guys through over the years and It's been amazing. Had the good fortune to meet you at the West Tampa chamber lunch and honoring you there with his award, as well as the UT Spartans for winning their, , championship of the NCAA division too, I believe so.

[00:00:51] Mark Corbett: Wow, man. , and then what we're there. And I get it. I'm not fortunate. I've got a photo with you, but also with Pop Cuesta. Okay. 43 years. This man retires after 43 years. Good Lord. I want to look at your career here for a moment, Miguel.   , my gosh, it's always interesting to me. seeing where somebody starts with baseball.

[00:01:16] Mark Corbett: Now you grew up in Key West, didn't you? Yes, sir. And, and what was your first touch with baseball in as a youth? 

[00:01:24] Coach Miguel Menendez: My grandfather and my dad,    we, my grandfather coached little league baseball down in Key West for over 30 years.   had his own team sponsored his own team. We had a little, convenience store that our family ran down there and in the back of the convenience store, we had the 1st ever batting cage and in the back of his convenience store with the 1st, the only at 1 point, it was the only pitching machine on the island.

[00:01:45] Coach Miguel Menendez: Even the high school didn't have a pitching machine at that time. So, , that was kind of my, my introduction and probably why I got into coaching just,    seeing my grandfather and do what he did for all those years. It's just something I always wanted to do. 

[00:01:58] Mark Corbett: Wow.   , you're starting out with, with that, with to be having a cage right behind grandpa's and be able to have access to that all the time.

[00:02:07] Mark Corbett: I could see if you've got, you had any interest in the game whatsoever. What a heck of a way to start. You did a lot more at Key West too, both as a player and as a coach too. How did that evolve? 

[00:02:18] Coach Miguel Menendez:   again, just,    started with what we did through little league and then going to the high school and was fortunate enough to play on some a couple of really good teams.

[00:02:28] Coach Miguel Menendez: My junior senior year, my my junior year. We lost in the state championship game. My senior year. We want to stay championship. Which was,    obviously a great feeling and then, . Was fortunate to go to the University of Tampa and play and then,    knew I,    my playing career was probably coming to an end after my college days wasn't probably good enough to go be a professional baseball player.

[00:02:49] Coach Miguel Menendez: And I was okay, but I want to stay involved with the game. I love baseball.   , that's. My wife makes fun of me all the time. My kids make fun of me. All I do is watch baseball.    I'm a baseball junkie. And so I wanted to stay involved and decided I was going to go back home to Key West to start coaching and,      get my start there and start teaching and, and kind of got involved as an assistant for five years down there.

[00:03:12] Coach Miguel Menendez: And then I was fortunate enough to take over as the head coach and, ,    the rest is history, I guess. 

[00:03:18] Mark Corbett: Wow. I look at your career and I see your step having built such a life in Key West in some place. I thought, well, a guy    that. I wouldn't necessarily think would take another step, but you did.

[00:03:32] Mark Corbett: You came back to Tampa, Tampa, Jesuit and a story. Legacy already, it's   , wow, okay,    you've got to have confidence in yourself first to step in that door. But I was glad to see to what I think they had already built a new stadium or new or new field at that point. So you're coming in with that.

[00:03:53] Mark Corbett: If they are making that kind of investment expectations are going to be high. And I'm thinking, my gosh, man, but you have excelled, you and your teams have excelled well above and beyond it. How many, how many state championships have you all been to? 

[00:04:09] Coach Miguel Menendez: So, , we've been, we played for five state championships in the nine years that I've been a Jesuit so far, or I guess 10 years, but the nine full years.

[00:04:18] Coach Miguel Menendez: Without the COVID year playoffs that year. And I honestly, that was probably our best team. The best thing I've ever had, the COVID year, we were number one in the country and undefeated when the, when, when COVID kind of came and stopped things. And we were really, really talented that year for sure. Wow.

[00:04:33] Mark Corbett: Yeah.    I gotta always wonder about coming into something new and we all know COVID changed the world. I look at my own Tampa Bay race. Yeah. Let's see.    it was, it was a year where you didn't have a lot of games. It was, I think about 60, 65, something    that.  . And, but anyway, you coming in at this time and developing that team and I'm thinking also psychologically when I think of young men in high school, I think their minds are still developing,    you're, you're dealing with, , Hungry man, but also probably in many cases and anxious man and, and trying to corral all of that talent and eat, working with them as a team and as an individual, you were going to be more than a coach.

[00:05:22] Mark Corbett: You, when you accepted Jesuit, I remember some things about faith. I think that were important to you as well. 

[00:05:30] Coach Miguel Menendez: Yes, and I think that was,    1 of the biggest things, right?   ,    obviously, when I went back, moved back to key West, I always just kind of assumed that my career would kind of finish there.

[00:05:40] Coach Miguel Menendez: Right?   , that's where I went to high school. That's where I grew up. My wife is from key West. My family's there,      , it was just kind of   , okay, well, this, this is kind of it, but,    there's. You always are, I think, as a competitor, you're always looking for maybe a better opportunity.

[00:05:57] Coach Miguel Menendez: And I had my family was at the time was,    I had my 3 kids were fairly young. My oldest son, when we moved here was in 6th grade. My daughter was in 5th grade and my youngest son, who's a fresh going to be a sophomore. Now, Jesuit was only in kindergarten. So it was   ,    what was best for them to as well.

[00:06:15] Coach Miguel Menendez: Right? And my family. , it kind of moved and that's where I think the faith came in. Right?   , it's just, ,    went through some, some tough stretches and key West where things just maybe didn't go so well for us as a team. And,      my faith life was what really probably got me through that and was able to kind of get through some of those moments and.

[00:06:33] Coach Miguel Menendez: , so when I came, it was just,    when I went on,    through the interview process and getting to know more about Jesuit,    playing at University of Tampa, I had some teammates of mine that played a Jesuit. So, I knew a little bit about the baseball, but maybe not so much about the school as a whole.

[00:06:48] Coach Miguel Menendez: Um. And it just felt    it was just the perfect place for me, right? For my faith life, for my, for the baseball, for, for, for everything. And, and knowing that my boys would have an opportunity to graduate from Jesuit, my oldest graduated in 2021, my youngest will graduate in 2027. Now, , and, and the opportunity was going to give my family was just too much to pass up.

[00:07:07] Coach Miguel Menendez: And,    on top of that, obviously the baseball was really, really good and the facilities and everything else. And they give us everything we need to be successful, but I'll be honest with you, Mark,   . I don't feel    there's this stress or pressure to win. They just want us to produce good citizens, good human beings and.

[00:07:22] Coach Miguel Menendez:    I think because of that is why we're successful too, though. Right?   , I think it just helps us, ,    look at the person as a whole. And, and,      we've just been blessed to, to, to, to, to be successful, but it's just really about, ,    trying to provide them with a, a great high school experience.

[00:07:40] Coach Miguel Menendez: And at the end of the day, to me, the most important thing is, can we help these guys further their baseball career, continue their baseball career at the next level? And that's what we want to do to come because of that. I think sometimes. 

[00:07:53] Mark Corbett: Well, there you go.   , winning does follow that sometimes. And that's, that's an important part.

[00:07:58] Mark Corbett: But I remember hearing and reading some different things about you and your faith and also about you as a, as a coach, not just being a leader in baseball, but as a leader of helping these young men elevate,    whether it be through the grades, whether it be personally, et cetera. And to me, that's of great value.

[00:08:17] Mark Corbett: I look back coach, , decades ago. And recreational ball for myself and others and grew up in Shadley, Kentucky, a little suburb of Louisville. And , lo and behold,    you had all kinds of coaches there, but not surprisingly, you have some that are fathers of players and guess who the pitcher is on that team.

[00:08:40] Mark Corbett: It's many cases. It's    they aren't necessary. They aren't necessarily good. Yeah. But, ,    there, there's all this going on. And then from the stands, you've got people shut coach, put my kid in,    what are you doing over there? Put my kid in what's the matter. So all this is going on. And I always wonder at the level where you are, do you still have parents who want to reach out and say a thing or two?

[00:09:04] Coach Miguel Menendez:     , we, we do not, I don't think so. So,    I think the culture of the school is, is such a, a benefit for us. And for me, especially before our staff,   , just because,   , I think everybody just is appreciative of being a Jesuit that, that it helps with some of those things.   but   , yeah, but I tell our parents all the time,   ,    I have an open door policy.

[00:09:27] Coach Miguel Menendez:   , you come speak to me whenever you want. We'll talk about your kid.   , I get it. I understand.   , I have, I have I have, I have kids. I have two boys. I have a girl who played soccer. They all played sports.   , I understand,   ,    this, this is important to them. So to you, it's important to the parents as well.

[00:09:42] Coach Miguel Menendez:   ,    let's just have an open dialogue, communication, and I can at least tell you where I'm coming from. You can tell me where you're coming from. And we may not always agree, but at least we'll,    there won't be this kind of, ,    this, this, ,    Wondering of what's going on or what's happening or what I'm thinking   , and I tell him    that, that's the biggest issues    your mind.

[00:10:03] Coach Miguel Menendez: I think sometimes when you see, maybe you're hurting for your kid, because your kids not in a lineup or those kind of things. And that's natural, right? That's a natural reaction. But when you don't. If you don't communicate with me, maybe, and your kid doesn't communicate with me,   , then you don't understand where I'm coming from.

[00:10:19] Coach Miguel Menendez: Then they just, you start thinking all these different thoughts that maybe aren't really what's happening, but it fuels this craziness. And and that's why I tell them, I'm   , I'm going to be honest with you. I'm going to tell you what I think. I'm not telling you. I'm right. I've been wrong way more than I've been right.

[00:10:32] Coach Miguel Menendez: I promise you, but it's what we think right now. Right? And we're going to do ultimately what we think is best for the program and the team. And,    I tell them all the time, there's not a decision in my life. And    this in my life in general, that Jesuit baseball doesn't factor into,    that decision and what I choose to do, because,    I know that that's an important thing for me and I don't want to do anything that's going to embarrass the school or embarrass myself and put myself in a bad situation.

[00:10:55] Coach Miguel Menendez: And so,    and I,    tell them   , that's just, this is just the way it is. And,   I think with that,    we've had a lot of really good communication lately with parents and, and,    I think it's been great. I think people think it's worse than what it is. And in my case, it's not. I know not everybody maybe goes that route and wants to communicate that much, but I,    I tell them all the time, to me, that's important.

[00:11:16] Coach Miguel Menendez: I'd rather over communicate and not communicate enough. 

[00:11:19] Mark Corbett: You're here. Well, thank you for that as a parent, I can tell you, , there's, there's times I've, I've know for myself and my own children in sports, there's times you have a coach and Thank God they're there for them.    you see that are putting the, the child's interest at heart.

[00:11:34] Mark Corbett:   , they're involved with the school and the team, but they still have that child's interest at heart.  . And while you're working with,    young men, they're still, they're still developing, become young, becoming men. So, and 

[00:11:48] Coach Miguel Menendez: I tell parents that   , I don't, I don't take this lightly. I spend more time with them than they do a lot of times, right.

[00:11:53] Coach Miguel Menendez: Especially in the season.    we, we demand a lot of our guys and they spend a lot of time at the field. And so,    to me, it's important that we have that kind of relationship because I know,       I try to find out as much as I can about our guys. I try to,    talk to them as much as I can and communicate with them.

[00:12:08] Coach Miguel Menendez: I, I tell people,   , the last few years, and I think,    I,    I'm blessed to have a great coaching staff. I let them kind of handle the baseball stuff and I just deal with people    that. That to me is   , just try to,    I think that's what's what's made a difference for us. And I try to just,    be somebody that they can rely on and count on.

[00:12:25] Coach Miguel Menendez: And hopefully,   ,    as they graduate and they move on,   , I tell them,   , obviously, we, we all love to win. We want to win, but. To me, the greatest moments in my life now are when,    my guys in Key West or the guys in Jesuit, when they reach out, they send me a text and they're, they're,    inviting me to their weddings and,      they're sending me pictures of their kids.

[00:12:43] Coach Miguel Menendez: And,    those are the things that really motivate me now more so than,    the winning is, is great and I enjoy it, trust me, but I want to win for the kids because I want them to experience what I got to experience as a player. But for me, it's those moments that I really cherish. 

[00:12:56] Mark Corbett:   , and you've developed a decade at that school and, and seeing different students come through and that has to be, you have to be enriched by seeing what they're able to do beyond that.

[00:13:06] Mark Corbett: Do some of them still reach back to you and coach and say, Hey, coach, I got a question about this or that after they've graduated. 

[00:13:13] Coach Miguel Menendez: Yeah, absolutely.   , I got guys that reach out. I got my guys in Q. S. I still reach out. I got guys here in Jesuit here in Tampa who reach out to me and,      it's always   ,    coach, Hey, I got this going on.

[00:13:24] Coach Miguel Menendez: Can you help me or whatever it may be? And    I tell them all the time,   ,    that's what I'm here for. This is not a four year relationship. This is hopefully a lifelong relationship. And, ,    I'm here to help.    that's the goal. And,    I was blessed last night. I got to see, , we're speaking here Tuesday morning.

[00:13:39] Coach Miguel Menendez: I got to watch Tennessee winning national championship. And one of my former players is that Tennessee. And, , so I spoke to him and his parents last night and that was great,    a great time and a great thing, but it's, it's those kinds of moments that you really appreciate now, right?   , , and, and so to me, that's always, , always a blessing.

[00:13:56] Mark Corbett: Well, that's good. I know there have been seeing a lot of talent over the years coming out of Jesuit. Going into matters and going into majors. And I got to tell you what, by the time I came down here, I kind of left baseball behind as something I was interested in, but I take my son. 

[00:14:16] Mark Corbett: Anyway, I was taking my son to Jesuit and, , I looked across the street and I said, Al Lopez park. And in my ignorance, I said, Oh, that must've been a mayor or somebody on the council. Not thinking, Oh my gosh, here's this legend. And that takes me to another thought about Al Lopez, all that he achieved as a baseball player and as a Hispanic coming from this area.

[00:14:40] Mark Corbett: What he achieved, , Al Lopez career. If you guys ever want to learn more, there's plenty down to the Tampa baseball museum and Ybor. But one of the pieces that I heard him say in a recording was that the biggest challenge he had was managing 26 personalities at the same time. And I think I get that.   , I was a manager who had    three or four employees.

[00:15:03] Mark Corbett: I can't imagine if I had 26 and try to have a common go and get them to something. And you as a coach and you're working with young men, I know that it has to equally be a challenge there. 

[00:15:13] Coach Miguel Menendez: It's definitely the biggest challenge, right?    these, I,    we joke about it all the time.    these guys are,    they have a bad day in the classroom.

[00:15:21] Coach Miguel Menendez: Maybe they, they bombed a test.    you got to deal with that. Right. Maybe their girlfriend broke up with them, whatever it may be. Right. You got all these different challenges with these young men.   , it's just part of what you got to deal with. But, ,    it's, it's, it's a beautiful thing. We've been fortunate.

[00:15:35] Coach Miguel Menendez: We do a lot of, we do a lot of different things. We do,   we read a book this year together. We usually try to do a book as a team and kind of have a discussion amongst the team and talk about some different things    on leadership. , we read the book called the hard hat by John Gordon.   we try to, we read a lot of his stuff.

[00:15:52] Coach Miguel Menendez: Um. I got I was blessed to see him speak at the ABC coaches convention a few years ago and, , he does a great job kind of these shorter books that are easier easy reads, but they tell a great story. And,    we try to do whatever we can to help develop leadership, but anything we can to try to push,    that we're all it's a common goal and everybody's working towards the same thing.

[00:16:11] Coach Miguel Menendez: Right?   , and. It's not always easy, right?    everybody's not always going to be happy and you're dealing with,    you said, with all these personalities, but anything we can try to do to try to help them,    to me,       I said, it's obviously it's going to benefit us. We're going to be better, hopefully a better team, but at the end of the day, also, it's going to make them better husbands, better fathers, better,    leaders in the community.

[00:16:30] Coach Miguel Menendez: And that's what we're trying to build here. 

[00:16:33] Mark Corbett: Well, let me ask you another question to going back to parents for a moment. If I look down your roster, I see names that are recognizable from, for major league baseball, and I'm thinking, well, there is such a intellect and talent that's sitting there in the benches.

[00:16:49] Mark Corbett: Do they ever reach out to you or do you ever reach out to them? 

[00:16:53] Coach Miguel Menendez: Usually it's me reaching out to them, right?   , we're trying to use every resource we can to help these young men be successful. And, ,    Gary Sheffield is, was,    has been around and he's been,   , a great parent, right?

[00:17:06] Coach Miguel Menendez:   , he's almost   , probably too quiet. You don't even hardly even know he's there sometimes except for you smell the cigar smoke around us. But, , yeah. But,    there's been a few times where,   ,    I reach out and first of all, I got to say,   , I'm still,   , in shock that,    I'm    a little kid that I have Gary Sheffield's phone number and I could pick up the phone and a call and he'll answer.

[00:17:25] Coach Miguel Menendez: Right?   , that's   , the coolest thing in the world to me. But,        , I'll reach out and be   , Gary, do you mind coming and speaking to the, to the guys today? We're,    maybe we're struggling with this thing. Maybe they'll hear it from me. And   , I tell them, I'm   , Gary, I said,   , I know I'm the coach, but you have 512 big league home runs.

[00:17:41] Coach Miguel Menendez: They're probably gonna listen to you more. They're gonna listen to me, right?   , that's just the reality of it. So,   if you don't mind coming to speak and he would be great,    he,    he just wants to be him and Doug Waechter work. They're both right. They just want to be kind of there. They're there to support their kids.

[00:17:54] Coach Miguel Menendez: They don't want to overstep their bounds. And I'm   ,    you guys can be as involved as you want.    we're, we're okay with that. We don't mind it, but they're, they're great. Both of them are great. Gary and Doug, both are.   unbelievable. Their kids are obviously great kids and they,    they've come in and fit in, done a really good job for us as players.

[00:18:12] Coach Miguel Menendez: But more importantly, they're just really good teammates too. And,    it's, it's, , but we've been blessed to have,    have some of those guys around for sure. 

[00:18:21] Mark Corbett: Well, that's what I was worrying about. That's, that's not an interrupting parent. That's, that's a great resource that those folks would do it.

[00:18:27] Mark Corbett: And Young Sheffield has been really fantastic on your team this year. What was he got as a batting average,    over 400 or something along those 

[00:18:36] Coach Miguel Menendez: four 11 this year was our team MVP.   , it was just our most consistent offensive player all year. And what's the big reason why we won a state championship.

[00:18:45] Coach Miguel Menendez:   , he had a tremendous year for us. 

[00:18:47] Mark Corbett: Well, that, that brings another question to mind when I look at a major league, , baseball manager and I'm seeing him with his team,    he had a, maybe he had a great year. This year is fantastic. Whatever won his division. , but here he is coming back for the next year.

[00:19:04] Mark Corbett: And he's got most of the guys he had before, maybe one or two or a little bit different. You being a high school coach.   , you've got a whole crop of guys that are leaving each year.   , probably 10 to 14 or something    that, that are seniors and graduating. How does that work when the next year comes around and you're looking at building a team?

[00:19:26] Coach Miguel Menendez:      that's always I think that's what probably to me the best part of my job, right? It's the thing I enjoy the most. I just trying to,    plan ahead for what we think is going to happen, right? And how things are going to work out. And obviously we're not always,    we don't always, ,    we try to look at things 3, 4 years in advance.

[00:19:45] Coach Miguel Menendez:   ,    we try to plan out, map out what we think is going to happen. Right? And,    we're, we're open to,   , things are going to change and. Yeah. And guys are going to develop a different rates and those kind of things. But, ,   , this year, I'm excited about this upcoming year. Right? We graduate 17 seniors who just helped us want to stay championship.

[00:20:00] Coach Miguel Menendez: That's obviously a large number, but we have a lot of really talented young kids coming back that are, and we got some young kids that were on JV that. Probably we're good enough to be on varsity, but they were just stuck behind a bunch of those seniors. So,    we're excited by what there is, but,   , we just try to plan ahead and just try to look and try to get guys as many reps as we can,    for us, we're blessed.

[00:20:22] Coach Miguel Menendez: We have a JV team. We have a freshman team, a JV team, and then obviously the varsity. So we can keep a lot of kids around and involved in our program and get them work and reps and game and game action. And now, when those guys get their opportunity, they're ready to go. And, .    our JV and freshman coaches do a tremendous job and, , but for us, it's kind of trying to map it out.

[00:20:41] Coach Miguel Menendez: We sit down, we have coaches meetings,    a couple of times a year where we'll sit down and we'll look at,    okay, obviously this coming season, but we'll also try to look at the next year and maybe 2 years down the road. And   , what do we think it's going to happen? Where do we think these guys are going to fit?

[00:20:55] Coach Miguel Menendez: So we can try to make sure that we're putting guys in the positions. We think we're going to need them down the road and, and making sure guys are on freshmen and JV team are getting the reps they need at the places they need. So that way, when it's their time is when it's their time, they're ready to come help us be successful.

[00:21:10] Coach Miguel Menendez:   and giving them the resources to be as successful as possible as well. 

[00:21:15] Mark Corbett: Well, that, really counts when I look at that. And I'm saying that these young men and seeing that you'd have a freshman and a JV team, because in many ways, I look at that much    having a farm system and having somebody coming up because many, many times, , A fan may look at their team and say, well, Joe, Joe's there in the minor leagues.

[00:21:35] Mark Corbett: He's Triple A. Why aren't we bringing him up? And well, for one reason,    he has to mature. He has things he has to Jojo has to figure out. But with you, you basically, when you're coming in and saying 17, my guys are gone. I   you're saying planning, I've had to look back at the incoming freshmen and what's going on with that JV team to say, what's it going to look    next year?

[00:22:01] Mark Corbett:    what's going to look    the next four years for that matter. And that's gotta be something to go. 

[00:22:07] Coach Miguel Menendez: No, it is. And it's, it's, it's a fun cause right. It's to me, it's, we, and we tell our parents, this is   , we treat our JV and freshmen team,    it's the minor leagues, right?    we tell them   

When the Rays,    when the Rays have their top prospects, they're not, they don't bring them and put them in the big leagues just to sit the bench, right? They're, there and, they're letting them go down and play every day in the minor leagues. And then when he's ready. When they think he's ready or their opportunities comes for him to come be the everyday player.

[00:22:33] Coach Miguel Menendez: That's what happens, right? And we do this, we try to do the same thing with our, with our guys,    we have a freshman or sophomore, if they're not going to start on varsity, we usually leave them on JV or freshmen because we want them to play every day. And then we tell them   , That doesn't mean that you're not the next guy that's going to get the opportunity, even over somebody who's on varsity.

[00:22:50] Coach Miguel Menendez: Right?   , but we want those guys and we've done it in the past. We've had guys who,   ,    when we won our 1st state, when my 1st state championship at Jesuit in 2019, we had our starting 3rd baseman and our starting shortstop in the state championship game. We're both sophomores who played the whole year on JV.

[00:23:07] Coach Miguel Menendez: And then at the end of the year. When we finally decided    we needed to make a move,    those guys started and played in and played the whole playoff run for us. And, and it's   , we don't bring you up to sit the bench. We're going to bring you up to play.   , that's just, just the way it works.

[00:23:19] Coach Miguel Menendez:    the Rays don't bring up their top prospect and he sits the bench, he's going to play every day.    that's what we try to do. We try to, we try to, , get that point across to our parents. But at the end of the day,    you said, it's, it's,    trying to plan ahead is trying to do as much as we can with,    the knowledge that we have and trying to,    but I think it also allows us to develop our guys to the best of their ability and the best of our ability.

[00:23:42] Coach Miguel Menendez:   . Hey, this is, these are the guys that need to get maybe the most playing time. These are the guys that we need to play in these certain positions, right. And, and do those kinds of things. And, and, and, and it allows us to,    and we can, and we have exit meetings, we talk with our guys,    we meet with the kids after,    at the end of each fall, we have a fall, obviously a fall season, we meet with them, we talk to them, Hey, this is what we think, how your fall went.

[00:24:03] Coach Miguel Menendez: So going into the spring, this is what we think is going to happen. If today,    if the opening day was tomorrow, this is where we're at, right?   , this is what you need to work on,    over the next few weeks before we come back in January. And then at the end of the spring season, we do the same thing.

[00:24:17] Coach Miguel Menendez: So they have a checklist of what they need to do over the summer to get better,    where they may be fit coming into the next school year. Right? Especially this year. Right? We graduate all those 17 seniors,    that means there's only, I think,   , 1213 guys coming back on varsity. So those 12 or 13 guys.

[00:24:33] Coach Miguel Menendez: Hey, this is the plan. This is what we think. And then the guys that are younger guys that are going to be coming up from JV, we met with them and told them, Hey, look, this is the opportunity. There's a bunch of guys graduating in front of you.   , It doesn't always work out this way. It just happens to be,    this year is one of those years where it's a lot, we're really senior heavy.

[00:24:49] Coach Miguel Menendez: So,    hey, you need to be ready to come in and try to earn a spot. So,      but,    we just try to communicate and be as open as possible with our guys,      same thing with the parents, but mainly our players, we try to,    communicate with them. So that way they can,    do what they need to do to be successful and be ready.

[00:25:06] Coach Miguel Menendez: And,    again, it's, Us as coaches trying to sit down and talk about it, but then it's also communicating with our kids. So that way they can,    do take the next step and the initiative to do what they need to do to be successful. 

[00:25:19] Mark Corbett: Well, I think that kind of caps it to when you're talking about doing what they got to do to be successful because I think that's kind of a thread through Jesuit with whatever those students are, whether they're in sports or anything else to boot and something they carry through through with them in life.

[00:25:33] Mark Corbett: So,   , we always talk well, I should say a lot of times we talk about,   how sports helps people as far as being able to socially interact. How to work together with people who has a group.   , those are all lessons far above and beyond that they're going to take through life, whether or not they go to minors or majors in the future.

[00:25:54] Mark Corbett: And so thank you for that. I also, you guys have got back to back championships with the Tony Saladino tournament. Did you? 

[00:26:03] Coach Miguel Menendez: We do. Yes. The last two years we won, we won back to back, , Saladino championships. Yes. Three out of four, two, we lost in, we lost in the semis in a one year, but yeah, we've been, we've been successful there as well.

[00:26:15] Mark Corbett: That's great.   , it goes back to Tampa area and, , people who've become legends of what they're doing with baseball. I know Tony Saladino's a junior is still. Putting some of that together, he and his son, and it's a great way because I know they're also doing it during spring break week. I, I think they're trying to keep kids out of trouble as much as they are giving them an opportunity, but I'm glad you all have done so well there.

[00:26:40] Mark Corbett: Yeah, gosh, Miguel,    it's, it's just so much with the young folks and you see how they progress. Are there any people, any players right now that you're looking for, for this, you've come through that you're, you can point to, and as a, I guess, as, , An object, not an object. What do I want to say here as a signpost for other young people, as a, as a guide to things that maybe they could aspire to that have gone through your program.

[00:27:09] Coach Miguel Menendez:      Camden Manassi jumps out to me, , he's with the, in the angels organization right now, he's in double a,   it's, this is his first full year in, in, in minor league professional baseball.   and I, and I say this because Camden was. When he came to us a Jesuit, he was,    he was a freshman.

[00:27:30] Coach Miguel Menendez: He played on the freshman team. He threw    68 miles an hour as a pitcher and just kind of continued to work. And you knew there was ability there and talent, but you just,    I'd be crazy if I thought, if I could tell you that I thought it would be,    turn out the way it was, but,    as a freshman, he played on our J on our freshman team, didn't even play the JV.

[00:27:47] Coach Miguel Menendez: And it was,       I said, was,    was, was okay. And then the next year, the sophomore worked really hard, got stronger. And all of a sudden was,    throwing 85, 86 was on our varsity. Never even played JV. And then as a junior and senior was, was our ace, right. Was, was,    ended up going to Wake Forest,    pitch was their closer last year and then college world series,    he's throwing 96, 97 miles an hour now, and, , he's got a chance to pitch in the big leagues, but.

[00:28:12] Coach Miguel Menendez: Even more important than all of that, right? I,    I think that's a great testament to his,    his work ethic, how,    the way he handled himself. He never,    he just kind of ran his own race was what I tell everybody. Right?   , especially these 14 year olds that come in as freshmen.

[00:28:29] Coach Miguel Menendez: You got everybody's.    it's different. Some guys have hit puberty already and started growing and other guys haven't right?   , and it's, it's a big difference. And it's which is why we have that freshman team.   , everybody's got to run their own race. Everybody comes in at different stages. And,    eventually, when you're a junior senior, everything kind of starts to even out and you're gonna, you're gonna catch up.

[00:28:48] Coach Miguel Menendez: But.    you can't worry about,    what somebody else is doing, or this,    the outlier, maybe that is just this,    terrific young man who is maybe developed early, but just more more physical than than everybody else. You just got to keep doing your thing and Canada was great. But more importantly,    this whole run that we've had here, I think Camden Manassi and Bennett Lee.

[00:29:12] Coach Miguel Menendez: Are the 2 guys that are really spearheaded and have allowed this is really helped shape our culture and within the baseball program.   , they were,    we, we, 2017, we lost in the state championship game. Those guys were freshmen. 2018. They were sophomores. They were both on varsity. And we had a really talented team, and it just didn't click for whatever reason.

[00:29:31] Coach Miguel Menendez:   and we probably didn't achieve as much as we should have achieved that year. And, , they came in that summer, and they were,    going into their junior year, and they were   , coach, this isn't going to happen anymore.   , we're going to fix this. And that's when we first started doing book club and some of these things.

[00:29:46] Coach Miguel Menendez: And they were a big part of that. And they changed the culture. And when I tell you,   , our guys, I could think about,    they had already graduated. They graduated in 2020. They were the COVID seniors. They were at Wake Forest and stuff and, , 2022, we had,    our season there,    their sophomores in college and, and 1 of our team captains text me.

[00:30:07] Coach Miguel Menendez: We're getting ready to have a team means that coach. I want to speak to the team meeting. I'm   , okay. He goes, Hey, I reached out to Camden invented and they put a presentation together for our guys and I'm   . Okay, that's fine.    send it to me, whatever. And I'm going to tell you   , they probably did a better job than I did explaining things to our guys.

[00:30:22] Coach Miguel Menendez: And   , they took    Camden was that though he was, he, he got in their meeting room and wait for us. And he was writing stuff on the white board. And   , he took great pride in, in still in Jesuit and being able to pass this stuff along. And so to me, it's   ,    when you, when you see those kinds of things, it's just the kind of person he is.

[00:30:39] Coach Miguel Menendez: He was Bennett joined the Catholic faith at the church at Jesuit. And Became Catholic. Camden was his sponsor, right? And   , so to me, those things are just   ,    you can't beat those kinds of stories. And that's the kind of young man that when you see that,    you appreciate, cause it's not just obviously the baseball is, and he's great.

[00:30:59] Coach Miguel Menendez: He's a great baseball player. I think he's going to pitch in the big leagues here soon.   but more importantly, the kind of person he is and what he is, and he took advantage of everything that Jesuit offered. And,      when he was so well rounded,   , it's just,    it, it makes you proud and to see that, and that's the kind of young men that we want our guys, that we want our guys to aspire to be, because it's just, ,    it's, it's, it's a great testament to the school itself, but to Camden, especially.

[00:31:25] Mark Corbett: Was it? Dang on man, forgive me. Yeah. I should take a beverage pause here myself. Oh gosh.

[00:31:36] Mark Corbett: Here's one thing I was looking at too, though, , Miguel, is if I look across the alumni years and years, there's at least, I think, maybe 13 Jesuit players who made it to the major leagues. And while you're pointing out that, yeah, that's great if they get there. But what's also great is the type of person that they can become through that.

[00:31:59] Mark Corbett: And the kind of behavior that you're talking about and contributions that are making for one another, there's a team. And I love the idea of grabbing the chalk, wait for it. Force and putting something up on the board. I, I can only think of maybe when Mookie Betts went to the Dodgers, his, his attitude was such where he was going to give to that whole team and have a spirited leadership attitude.

[00:32:21] Mark Corbett: And so when you have a player    that, man, it means a lot. It means a whole lot. So congratulations on that too.   but coming to Jesuit man, now I know tuitions, it's a, it's a punch,    it's get cost a little bit to come there. Do you, is there such a thing as athletic scholarships? 

[00:32:40] Coach Miguel Menendez: There is not,   athletic scholarships.

[00:32:43] Coach Miguel Menendez: , we do have need based financial aid, right?    every student is eligible. And I believe. I don't, I don't want, and I'm probably going to get this wrong, but I believe,   , 3 court,   , 75 percent of our student body received some sort of financial aid. I think,   and we're,    we're also probably a little fortunate now,   , where our tuition is and it's gone up a little bit, obviously, but I think we're right around 21, 000 a year for school.

[00:33:09] Coach Miguel Menendez: Which is still 1 of the cheaper ones in the area for private school. I think only Tampa Catholic is cheaper than us.   but the governor governor to Santa's has the step up program now. So everybody is eligible and we take, we take it a Jesuit. So, I think that's 7500 dollars a year that everybody is kind of qualifies for no matter what your financial situation is.

[00:33:28] Coach Miguel Menendez: So, between that and need based financial aid, it ends up being a little more affordable than,      , it's a. It's a lot. I get it. I know it's,    there, we probably miss out on some, some young men that can't come to school because of the tuition issue. But,   I think,    for what, what they get a Jesuit and what they're, they're provided, I think is definitely well worth what, what the cost is.

[00:33:53] Coach Miguel Menendez: But,      but I know that's a,    that's easy for me to sit here and say, it's not my money. 

[00:33:59] Mark Corbett: No, I know. But   ,   , I had some of the same challenges when I had my son there. It's   ,    there were some changes in my life that made it some of a difficult to keep him there in the senior year.

[00:34:11] Mark Corbett: But we were able to, and I was just wondering as far as well, it's good to hear it. 75 percent of the students get some sort of aid with 

[00:34:18] Coach Miguel Menendez: it. I believe it may be a little high, but I know it's, I know it's over 50 percent of the student body gets some sort of financial aid. 

[00:34:23] Mark Corbett: That's fantastic. It really is.

[00:34:25] Mark Corbett: I'm glad to hear that, Miguel. Oh man.     . Again, when I look to the future, we're talking about you're building not just young athletes, you're building young men. You're giving them a vision to the future, something to be when they leave that school. And I believe that's, that's very, very important.

[00:34:45] Mark Corbett: And we talked about the parents earlier. Sometimes some hard calls have to be made. You had to make a hard call as a parent and a coach, didn't you? 

[00:34:53] Coach Miguel Menendez: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. , yeah, it was,    it was difficult. My son,    my oldest son, his junior year, which that was the COVID year, 2020, when we were really, really talented, we had, we just won a state championship in 2019.

[00:35:07] Coach Miguel Menendez:   We had almost pretty much the whole starting lineup back except for for one guy and a bunch of pitching coming back. And,    his, his graduating class was really talented. And,    we had to make a decision of and not just him, but, , one of my other assistant coaches, Louie Martinez, his son was, was in that group too.

[00:35:25] Coach Miguel Menendez: And both of those, we had, we had to make the decision that,    to cut both of those young men and, ,       it wasn't easy, right? Probably the hardest thing, the hardest thing I ever had to do, , talking to my son. And, but,    he got it. He got it. He understood it.   , he wasn't happy, obviously.

[00:35:41] Coach Miguel Menendez:   but honestly, it was the best thing to happen for happened to him too.   , and I think he would tell you that now, not,    the pain is probably gone away a little bit and you got over it, but. He worked harder than he ever did after that, and he came back his senior year, made the team and, and, and had some very big moments for us.

[00:35:56] Coach Miguel Menendez:    he got a game winning hit against Hillsborough for us to, to to, and knocked on the game winning run and a big district game for us. ,    started at DH in a game against Tampa Catholic, which is obviously our rival. And,   had a couple hits in rbis in that game. So,   . He had a really good senior year and I think,    I tell him this,      , if he doesn't get cut his junior year, I don't know if he would have worked as hard as he would have and been as successful.

[00:36:18] Coach Miguel Menendez: And, , and I think it's paid off more importantly, it's paid off in life. I think to him, Sue,    it was a life lesson for him. And,    I think he realizes that how hard he's got to work and do things. And, , so it was definitely tough in the moment.   wasn't easy.      it's,    as a family, it was a difficult time, but,      , it wasn't, we were prepared that there was a possibility that this may happen.

[00:36:43] Coach Miguel Menendez: And,    I spoke to him all the time,   , listen, and this is my job. If, if, if it's not good, if you're not good enough,   ,    I got to make decisions that I got to make and,    it doesn't mean that I don't love you, but it,    it just, what we got to do to, to, to,    To do what's right for the program.

[00:36:58] Coach Miguel Menendez: And, and,      that was the decision that had to be made and,    it definitely stunk and it wasn't,    ,    it wasn't the, I,    I didn't enjoy it. I didn't enjoy having to do it, but it was the right thing to do. And, and,    and at the end of the day, that's, that's the most important thing.

[00:37:17] Mark Corbett: Well, Miguel,   , the thing of it is, it's still a teaching moment that you're giving your son.   , that you're giving any player. That's the, that can be a hard call as far as what you have to do. You obviously,    you're, you're your father, but you, but you're also the coach and you realize that your son,    needed to mature with this.

[00:37:37] Mark Corbett: And it gave him the opportunity, gave him probably the fire to, to, to pursue it harder. And to me, that is critical because,    I was kidding with you earlier. About correct team and a, and a coach who's going ahead and put his son in his picture for three years in a row. And it goes   , Oh, Lord, I'm on this team and that will never get anywhere.

[00:37:58] Mark Corbett: But, but our decisions have to be made, but    I said, same time to be that as part of our cultivation of character and our own challenges to do better. So I'm, I know that was a hard moment for you, but it sounds    it was really. Beneficial for a future,    it was, 

[00:38:17] Coach Miguel Menendez: it was, and that's what we try to take out of it.

[00:38:19] Coach Miguel Menendez: Right? The positives we try to take out of it. And, and,   I think even he,    the positive, he, he still loves the program. He still loves Jesuit. He comes out, he came to all the play. He comes to all the playoff games. He comes in and,    gives me a hug and a dugout and everything. So,      it's again, it worked out right?

[00:38:36] Coach Miguel Menendez:    it all worked out the way it should have and probably for the best. And, ,    you said, I think most importantly, though, I think it lit a fire in him that maybe he didn't even know he had yet. Right. And,      I joke with him now and I joke with my wife a little bit now that,    wish I'd have cut him when he was maybe a little bit earlier.

[00:38:51] Coach Miguel Menendez: He'd have got that fire sooner. Right.   , , but no, but it was,    it was again, I,    I told you earlier,    there's not a decision in my life that doesn't,    family and everything else that doesn't involve Jesuit baseball. And I think that's 1 of those things that,    I just, I take great, you said it   , it's a great program.

[00:39:09] Coach Miguel Menendez: It's a great place. I don't take it lightly. And, ,    anything I can do to try to,    I'm always trying to make sure that we're doing the right thing.    we may not always, ,    we may not always make the right decision, but I promise you that we're the best intentions that I could assure you.

[00:39:24] Mark Corbett: I have no doubt, sir. , I, I do wonder, this is something I'm coming from my own ignorance as far as, well, yeah, my own ignorance. No, no, man, I haven't thought about it. , geez. But when I think about high school players. And you've got people coming from college, looking at them. You, you've got, I guess a lot of it's probably done digitally these days, looking online, but you've got all of these people, whether it may be from, , the Florida coastal league or some other ones that are viewing your, your kids, do you help them navigate through that?

[00:40:01] Mark Corbett: How does that work? 

[00:40:03] Coach Miguel Menendez:   yes.   , I tell my parents, I tell our parents this, right. Travel ball has become a big, huge, , part of what we do and what we deal with. And, , and, and, and,    I got no problem with that.   , I.    my kids play travel baseball, so I get it. I understand. And it's the way the world kind of works for recruiting.

[00:40:21] Coach Miguel Menendez:   but I tell our parents all the time. I'm as involved as you want me to be in the recruiting process. Some, some of our guys, they probably don't need me. I'll be honest with you.   ,    our high end guys probably don't need,    I'm there as a resource, but they're going to get recruited.

[00:40:34] Coach Miguel Menendez:   , they're going to be seen. They're going to get seen through their summer teams or whatever it may be.   but,    we have relationships with schools. We have relationship with coaches that obviously we have grown close to, or they maybe value my opinion,   or our coaches opinions. And, and, ,    we have,    our assistant coaches are great, and they've been involved for a long time.

[00:40:53] Coach Miguel Menendez: And, , so they,    they have connections with coaches and schools. So. We're as involved as parents want us to be,   , I tell them, I'm there as a resource, especially with the transfer portal and the way things are working now in college baseball. It's a little bit different than maybe it was 3, 4 years ago.

[00:41:09] Coach Miguel Menendez: So,    we try to help them navigate as best we can and try to give them information to be successful. And I tell everybody this,   ,    I don't. Ever tell our guys where to go. That's not my choice. It's not my decision. It's not my life. I'm just trying to give them all the information so that they can make the best decision for them right for themselves.

[00:41:27] Coach Miguel Menendez: And, ,    we want them to obviously go to a situation that is beneficial to them. So they can be successful, that's going to give them the best chance to be successful and thrive and play. And most importantly, graduate from college. And,      we try to help them with as best we can, but,    I'm as involved as they want me to be   ,    there's some,    some of our guys I'm heavily involved in and I'm making phone calls and I'm reaching out.

[00:41:52] Coach Miguel Menendez: I'm shooting emails, whatever it may be other guys. They probably don't need me as much. It may just be there as more of a, ,    , soundboard, maybe, or,    , just there to kind of listen and kind of maybe help guide them in the decision making process.   but,    it's, it's,    it's a little bit different with each individual guy.

[00:42:10] Coach Miguel Menendez:   but, yeah, I'm there to help and,       I said, we want,    I tell our parents is when they're freshmen, they come in,   , I want at the end of the day, anybody that wants to go play college baseball. I think there's a place for them.    we can get everybody to go play somewhere now.

[00:42:23] Coach Miguel Menendez: Some of them may not want to go travel as far as they would have to go play and that's fine and that's okay. But we want to give everybody that wants a chance to go play the opportunity to go play college baseball if it's available to them. 

[00:42:34] Mark Corbett:    I guess one of the things that provokes that thought of me, and it's irrelevant today, but I think about Mickey Mantle, the whole story about how that scout came in, got him for a song.

[00:42:48] Mark Corbett: Parents had no idea what was going on, but in today's world, if you've got a young player, it's playing well. Yeah. They're probably either travel ball or there was a team that's knows enough about the system. They're not going to be taken advantage of. And, but I'm also glad to hear about how many are moving on to college.

[00:43:05] Mark Corbett: Can you tell us anything about the, , the players that are. Maybe have some scholarships that are graduating now and going to other colleges. 

[00:43:13] Coach Miguel Menendez: So I think we have 10 of ours, 10 of our 17 seats. Well, let's see, I think 10 of our seniors are moving on to go play college baseball.   you were still working on a few actually, as we speak, even now with,    the season's over trying to, the last couple of guys that I think we can get there, but, , we have guys,    McCall, we have guys going to University of Florida, , Florida state.

[00:43:36] Coach Miguel Menendez: , N. C. State, we have guys going to junior colleges. We have guys going to, , Florida Southern Division, 2 schools. So,   , we have kind of a wide variety of, of, of guys that go kind of all over the place.   but,      , I tell them, that's the most important things you get to keep putting a uniform on.

[00:43:54] Coach Miguel Menendez: Right?   , eventually we're all going to get told,   , unless you're. One of the,    select few,   , , maybe a Gary Sheffield or, ,    one of these bonafide hall of famers, eventually everybody gets told they're not good enough, right?   ,    whether it's,    you may not get told directly,   , right.

[00:44:11] Coach Miguel Menendez:    I tell them,   ,    my college career ended and nobody drafted me, well, that was them telling me I wasn't good enough anymore, right?    I was done. So the uniform gets taken away.   so it's going to happen, but, , you want to, as long as you can keep putting the uniform on, it's a good day and,    keep putting it on as long as you can, and,    that's our goal, but.

[00:44:27] Coach Miguel Menendez: , yeah, we're blessed and we're fortunate that we have a lot of guys that go on and play college baseball and,    we have guys that are playing now all over the place all over the country and   and we,    we hope to continue to continue to produce that and keep,    keep having guys go do that.

[00:44:42] Coach Miguel Menendez: So I think we had,    we this rising seniors, the guys that were just juniors, we have, I think, 33 or four guys right now committed to schools and,    we'll have,    hopefully by the end of the summer, that number is going to go up some as well. And, , we'll keep,    keep trying to produce guys that go play at the next level.

[00:45:02] Mark Corbett: That's fantastic. I know you were talking about the time when you had to take the uniform off, but   , the thing of it is you kept the uniform on as a coach, you kept the uniform on your love of the game with what you're doing with it. And I think that uniform. Even if it can almost be invisible about how they, they take everything they've learned in life.

[00:45:22] Mark Corbett:    you look across businesses. Well,   , the guy who comes to mind here locally is, is Robin Fuson, who is a, a judge who, who went up through the miners in the Boston Red Sox. It was a pitching coach. And there's all these different evolutions we can do with our lives that. Go above and beyond just what happens on that field.

[00:45:39] Mark Corbett: But when you have leadership    yourself and an organization    Tampa, Jesuit working with these young men, spiritually, physically,    helping them develop, it's, it's out,    it's something that I wish everybody could experience. And hopefully we can all give something to those young men.

[00:45:57] Mark Corbett: You certainly are. And I hope all the rest of our listeners to find a way to, they can do that as well. Yeah. 

[00:46:04] Coach Miguel Menendez: Yeah, thank you. It definitely is.    I tell them all the time,   , there's lessons, there's things that I do in my everyday life still to go back to my,    my grandfather is my little league coach.

[00:46:14] Coach Miguel Menendez: My, my dad is my little league coach. My, my,    high school coach, my college coach, Terry Rupp.   , who's my boss now at Jesuit. He's the AD at Tampa Jesuit was my college coach. And,    there's lessons there that I'm   , Okay,    I still live in my everyday life that I don't forget because probably because,    I had to run because we messed something up.

[00:46:32] Coach Miguel Menendez: So,   , now, I don't,    I never want to have that bad feeling again. And,      and I jokingly say that, but it's    those kind of things that stick with you and they last. And that's why I tell him,   , it's,    I think it's what, Hopefully it makes me a good coach. It's, it's more importantly what I think hopefully makes me a good father, a good husband.

[00:46:48] Coach Miguel Menendez: And, and,      and that's what I try to tell these young men.    we're, we're giving you lessons here that obviously    we're trying to help you be the best baseball player you could be, but more importantly,    we're going to help you be the best, , young man and husband and father and, and, and just productive member of society that we can help you be.

[00:47:04] Coach Miguel Menendez: And that's, that's at the end of the day, that's the most important thing we can do. 

[00:47:08] Mark Corbett: Well, Miguel, I want to thank you again for being on your day. Is there anything special you'd    to share with the audience? 

[00:47:13] Coach Miguel Menendez: I just would    to mention my coaches real quick because,    without those guys, we wouldn't be,    I know sometimes I get the glory as the head coach, but those, those guys are unbelievable.

[00:47:24] Coach Miguel Menendez: Tim Knowles, Mike Swenson, Luis Martinez, Ryan Stanley, Daniel Gibson. Those guys are outstanding for us. And,    Tim Knowles and Ryan Stanley and Daniel Gibson are Jesuit guys. They graduated, they all play baseball Jesuit. They went on to play college baseball and now they're back. Daniel Gibson played professional baseball for a long time, and now they're back and giving back to their school and their community.

[00:47:46] Coach Miguel Menendez: , Mike Swenson, who had a son who graduated from Jesuit has been there for a long time.   Louie Martinez had a son who graduated from Jesuit now has been there a long time with me. He's been there,    he's my, kind of my right hand man. It's    kind of my best friend and, , came over when I got the job at Jesuit and, ,    those guys allow me to kind of freelance and do a lot of the things that I get to do in building relationships with these young men, because.

[00:48:07] Coach Miguel Menendez: They handle a lot of the baseball stuff. I get to just kind of turn it loose to them,    and, ,    and it's great when you have a staff    that and you have people    that, that you can trust immensely. And,    it's,    Tim's been there since,    he came back, I believe, because he's been there since, , I think 04.

[00:48:25] Coach Miguel Menendez: So when he was there for crumblies last year, he was there with Richie Warren and now he's there with me. So it says a lot about him as a person that he, and how much he loves Jesuit, that he's been there that long.   in fact, I think he's, I'm gonna, I'm gonna mess this up now, but I think he has been a part of the five of the seven state championships that have been won.

[00:48:41] Coach Miguel Menendez: 197 as a player.   and, and, and obviously the last 4 that they've won since 2014 that we've won is as a coach. So, ,    but it's just great to have those, those guys and they mean so much to me in this program. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention those guys. 

[00:48:59] Mark Corbett: Well, thank you for speaking again with coach Miguel Menendez with Jesuit, the state champions this year and state champions several past years as well.

[00:49:08] Mark Corbett: Hey coach, thank you for sharing so much of your stories and giving so much energy to Jesuit and the young men that are there as well. 

[00:49:15] Coach Miguel Menendez: Thank you, Mark, for the opportunity. And, ,    I enjoyed it and any, any police don't hesitate to reach out. I'd love to come back on eventually. Hopefully we'll win some more.

[00:49:23] Coach Miguel Menendez: You have us back on, 

[00:49:25] Mark Corbett:    it brother. Absolutely. Well, you've been listening to BaseballBiz On Deck hand. Once again, we've been talking with coach Miguel Menendez from the Jesuit Tampa with the baseball team that has done so well this year, winning the state championship and has done so much more for the state.

[00:49:38] Mark Corbett: With the development of the young players that they have there as well with a great team of coaches, as well as players. So we look forward to talk with you guys again here on BaseballBiz On Deck here in the near future. Remember you can find us on, Oh, podcasts everywhere. Apple YouTube. Oh my goodness.

[00:49:55] Mark Corbett: It's everywhere. Hey, thanks again, Miguel. I appreciate it, buddy. You got it. Thank you. Hey brother. That was great. I appreciate it. All right. Let me stop the recording here, but,   yeah, this is great stories. ,    and the thing of it is sometimes I don't know where to stop and start with you and that team, because there's, there's so much there.

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Tags: Florida,Baseball,Championship,High School,Tampa,Jesuit,Tigers,Miguel Menendez, Tim Knowles,Mike Swenson,Louie Martinez,Ryan Stanley,Daniel Gibson,Gary Sheffield,Doug Waechter,Camden Menacci,Bennett Lee, Carmelo LoSauro,Tyler Moran,Key West,Terry Rupp,University of Tampa,Al Lopez,Lou Piniella,Dave Magadan,Lance McCullers