Legendary Indiana Head Baseball Coach Bob Morgan’s Offensive Theory

• By Grant Young

It has been said many times that hitting a baseball is the hardest thing to do in all sports. While this is usually a reference to the physical task of connecting a round bat squarely with a round ball and sending it somewhere that the nine fielders aren’t, equally (if not more) difficult are the mental hurdles that come with taking on such a failure-centric task.

A hitter can have all of the physical talent in the world. But if they haven’t mastered the mental game of hitting, they’ll never reach their true potential. And the same goes with the other way around, as well. This is why baseball offense mental training is a fundamental component of learning how to hit. 

Coach Bob Morgan is an expert on hitting’s physical and mental sides alike. Coach Morgan served as Indiana’s head baseball coach from 1983 - 2005, boasting a record of 782 - 496 with the school. This is the most wins of any coach (in any sport) in the history of Indiana University. He led the IU baseball team to a Big Ten Championship in 1996, was named NCAA Regional Coach of the Year in 1996, and was named Big Ten Coach of the Year in 1991 and 1993.

While Coach Morgan is now retired, his coaching proteges at Indiana have helped instill his teachings with current teams; which is a big reason why Indiana’s baseball team made it to the 2024 NCAA Tournament. 

Coach Morgan’s ‘Offensive Theory of Baseball’ course dives into topics such as mental concentration, small ball, base running, coaching concentration, and much more. We’ve taken some of his crucial insights and included them below, so all baseball coaches can help their players improve their physical and mental skillsets. 

Building Relationships (Introduction)

“Trophies collect dust. Plaques collect dust. But relationships last forever.” 

Before coach Morgan dives into his offensive theory, he speaks for a few minutes about the value of building and maintaining relationships, among other coaches and with players. 

Coach Morgan alludes to the fact that, while all baseball coaches started doing so because they (hopefully) love the sport, everybody also wanted to make an impact, and leave a legacy behind for future generations to follow. While this can take place with on-the-field instruction and teachings, often the bigger impact comes with the relationships that we make with young players. 

It’s important to remember that youth baseball players don’t get paid a penny to play. While they could have signed up for a variety of reasons (because they love the game, because they want to make friends, or because they want to get out of their household for a few hours every day), the bottom line is that they choose to be out there on that field. 

For that reason alone, coaches mustn’t take their participation for granted, and work to build lasting relationships with every player on their roster.

Hitting and Bunting

One aspect of his hitting theory that Coach Morgan dedicated a lot of time to is bunting. The first thing he discusses is that, for a sacrifice bunt, he wants his players’ bats parallel with the top of the strike zone. This is because it’s nearly impossible for a player to get their bunt on the ground if they’re moving their bat upwards in the strike zone upon contact. 

In addition, Coach Morgan notes that, if there’s a runner on first base, then the sacrifice bunt should be hit to the first baseman. When there are runners on first and second base, the sacrifice bunt should be hit toward the third baseman. In terms of the actual bunt, Coach Morgan stresses that the bottom half of the bat should be making contact with the top half of the ball because that will force the ball to go downwards upon contact. 

Coach Morgan also goes into detail about the suicide squeeze; which, while rare, can be the difference between winning and losing a game, depending on how well it’s executed. He says that the runner on third base should take off for home as soon as he sees the “L” in the pitcher’s arm. This essentially means that he needs to be sure that the pitcher is indeed throwing the ball home before the suicide steals come into play.

The reason why Coach Morgan details the techniques behind all of these bunt plays is because he believes being able to execute small-ball offense is a crucial part of succeeding in baseball. While you don’t always want to rely on it, a team having it available on their toolbag will put pressure on the opposing defense and give your team more ways to win games. 

The Mental Standpoint

Coach Morgan drops a bunch of fantastic nuggets about the mental side of hitting. One of those is, “I’m swinging and waiting, rather than waiting to swing.”

What Coach Morgan means by this is that he wants his hitters to be expected to swing at every pitch. Their initial reaction must be aggressive, anticipating to get the pitch they’re looking for, and then taking a good, short, and compact swing at it. And if the pitch isn’t what they’re looking for, then they shut off their swing. 

The opposite of this would be waiting to swing, which is a more passive approach that involves being more defensive than offensive at the plate. Because hitting is difficult enough as it is, waiting at the pitcher’s whim and being reactive rather than aggressive isn’t conducive to an effective hitting approach. 

These are just some of the many insights Coach Morgan imparts, in terms of his offensive theory. And his track record proves that hitters thrive when they adhere to these lessons and core principles.