Transformation, Leadership, & Culture Change

Description

It is pretty rare to find a baseball coach with a PhD and coach Barry Davis is on that rare list. During this presentation from the 2020 Virtual Baseball Coaches Summit, coach Davis shares with you the qualitative study that he did on the best coaches in college baseball.

He wanted to know why is it some coaches have more success then others. What makes up a championship environment and how can they sustain that success over the years?

To uncover the common themes required to transform a losing program into a winning program, nine purposely selected elite head baseball coaches participated in one on one, face-to-face audio-recorded interviews. The semi-structured interviews centered on two research questions.

The study revealed five common themes found among elite coaches and their programs. These include (a) leadership and leadership development; (b) consistency and consistent communication; (c) setting standards; (d) acquiring the right fit; and (e) a growth mindset.

You're getting the inside scoop in this course of just what happened in those interviews and just what makes these coaches tick.

Lessons

Section 1

1 Introduction 3:15 2 The Why 3:22 3 What Is An Elite Coach? 1:12 4 The 2 Big Rules in Coaching 1:38

Section 2

5 How The Study Was Framed 4:02 6 Collegiate Climate 1:48 7 Leadership Framing 1:25 8 The Four I's 2:43 9 Elite Coaching 3:17

Section 3

10 Situational Leadership 1:49 11 A Sound Philosophy 2:26 12 The Participants of The Study 1:25 13 Primary Barriers for Perennial Losing Programs 1:58 14 Championship Culture 2:07 15 Final Question... 1:43 16 The 5 Big Things 4:40

Question & Answer

17 Open Q/A 1 2:04 18 Open Q/A 2 1:39 19 Open Q/A 3 1:43 20 Open Q/A 4 1:20 21 Open Q/A Final 3:22

The Coach

Barry Davis, Ph.D.

Transformation, Leadership, Culture: A Qualitative Study on Elite NCAA Head Baseball Coaches

Head Coach Barry Davis begins his 17th season at the helm of the Rider University baseball program. During his tenure, Davis has transformed the program into a consistent contender in the Metro-Atlantic Conference (MAAC), winning two conference tournament championships, two regular-season championships, and qualifying for nine conference tournaments in his first 15 years and eight of the last 12.

Davis, the holder of a 939-628 career record, has been a head coach for 31 years, having led three different programs at three different levels. His first 11 years, he led Gloucester County College (Rowan College of South Jersey) to unprecedented success. It was followed by four years at NAIA (now Division II) Georgia Southwestern State University before being named Rider’s eighth head coach in July of 2004. He is only Rider’s third head coach since 1960.

On May 15, 2017, Davis became a member of the 900-win club defeating in-state rival Monmouth 6-5, helping them secure a birth in the MAAC tournament as the 6th seed. It was the eighth time in the last eleven years Rider had qualified for the conference tournament. First-team all-conference pitcher Nick Margevicius led the 2017 team back to the conference tournament after failing to qualify in 2016. The San Diego Padres selected Nick in the 7th round of the Major League Baseball amateur draft, becoming Rider’s 64th player chosen in the MLB draft, which began in 1965. Margevicius was Davis’s sixth Rider player selected in the MLB draft and first-ever player to make his debut in the major leagues.

Since Davis arrived in 2004, the Broncs have experienced championship-level success mirrored by numerous individual honors. In 2008, All-Conference first-team selections, Jamie Hayes, Sean Olson, and freshman All-American Mason Heyne, Rider won its first MAAC baseball championship, defeating third-seeded Siena, 12-5. It was Rider's first conference championship since 1996. The team finished 29-28, participating in the NCAA regional in Fullerton, California.