Conversations with College Coaches: Dean College
Baseball Factory is privileged to work with programs from every level of college baseball. We strive to educate and guide our players when it comes to choosing the right school. The more information a player knows about a school, coach and program, the better. Recently, Dan Mooney went one-on-one with Seth Kaplan, the Head Baseball Coach at Dean College. Find out what Coach Kaplan has to say about his facilities, importance of video and what he looks for in a recuit.
1. How long have you been coaching? How long at you current college or university?
I have been coaching for 12 years now and this is year 2 at Dean College. I got my start during a summer internship in college with the Roberto Clemente All Stars. We took kids from all over the country down to Puerto Rico for a week of baseball.
2. Who are some of your mentors or coaches that you look up to?
My father has been the biggest influence on me as a coach. He was a high school baseball coach in New York City for over 20 years. He taught me how to play the game and how to think about the game in every situation. He would always ask me why I did something and would challenge me to strive for perfection. I was very fortunate to have played for Mike Stone at UMASS, and he taught me how to run a game and a practice. But more importantly he taught us more about how to play the game correctly than anyone I have been around. Nick Giaquinto at Sacred Heart was a great mentor to me as well. He is such a huge believer in the mental side of baseball and one of the few people I have been around who knows how to teach the mental side of the game and who makes it a priority at practice. I have also enjoyed competing against and have great respect for Charlie Hickey at CCSU, Dan Gooley at Quinnipiac, and Dean Eahalt at Monmouth. Those guys always had their teams competing, playing the game the right way, and their programs are always what I am trying to emulate.
3. What is the first thing about your school and program that you’d want a recruit to know about?
That we are unique. We are a four year school with two year athletics. Meaning that our credits and your classes are going to transfer to another four year when your eligibility is up. At other junior colleges this may not be the case, but we pride ourselves on our academics and the ability to prepare our guys for transferring into a four year program.
4. What qualities do you look for in a prospect on the field? Off the field?
On the field we are trying to find the best players we can and who want to get better and they can be from anywhere in the world. Very often our guys are the ones who are over looked or the guys who believe that they can play at a higher level. Off the field we are looking for high character guys who understand that achieving good grades comes from hard work in and out of the classroom.
5. How has video helped your recruiting?
Video is tremendous because it allows our staff to all see and form an opinion on the recruit right away and see if that student athlete is worth pursuing. It also allows us to breakdown mechanics and start to form a plan for when they get to our campus.
6. Can you break down your fall practice schedule? What will you try to accomplish?
We practice and play 6 days a week in fall. Our day off is Tuesday and we are looking to take advantage of being on the field and teaching the entire workout. We get very hands on with our guys in every aspect of the game. We are also implementing all of our team offense and defense in a controlled and yet challenging environment. We are also competing every chance we get.
7. Do you have a strength and conditioning coach?
One of our assistant coaches, who is a certified personal trainer, handles all of our strength and conditioning. It is so much easier hearing and putting our guys through workouts from someone who played and was so successful in both baseball and the world of strength and conditioning. Our guys by into his program immediately.
8. Anything planned for your facilities (upgrades, changes, etc.)?
We will adding to our hitting area very soon. We will have a total of 4 batting cages now. During the fall of last year our new solar paneled score board was installed and it is tremendous.
9. Is there anything you would like to add about your assistant coaches, recruits, parents, or program that we have not asked you about?
Our coaching staff is the backbone of our program to have 3 guys who all played at the junior college level and then transferred to division 1 and division 2 schools makes life easier for me. Those three guys have gone on to play in the Cape Cod League, NECBL, and signed pro contracts. Our guys have a huge advantage being around our staff.
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