Conversations with College Coaches: Ursinus College
Baseball Factory works with programs from every level of college baseball and every region of the country. Recently, Dan Mooney went one-on-one with Stan Exeter, the head baseball coach at Ursinus College. Ursinus, located in Collegeville, PA is a Division III program in the Centennial Conference. From their use of video to the type of players he recruits and the academic rigors of Ursinus, Coach Exeter gave some insight into his program.
1. How long have you been coaching? How long at Ursinus College?
15 years as a Head Coach and in my first year at Ursinus.
2. Who are some of your mentors or coaches that you look up to?
Brian Thomas, Former Ursinus Coach, has helped me tremendously in my transition to Ursinus. Has a wealth of baseball knowledge both as an administrator and college baseball coach. Tim Neiman, DeSales University. Runs a classy program with a ton of success and was a sounding board for me when I got my first head coaching job.
3. What is the first thing about your school and program that you’d want a recruit to know about?
Balance: Ursinus has a great academic reputation along with top notch athletic facilities, allowing each player to perform at a high level on and off the field. Plus UC has a very active campus, our guys are involved with many different things.
4. What qualities do you look for in a prospect on the field? Off the field?
The main quality is to possess a full commitment to their academic and athletic pursuits. We want our guys to experience it all so we seek prospective student athletes who show and share in that same outlook.
5. How has video helped your recruiting?
A tremendous amount. When seeing a player(s) live it is always good to see how a he runs and on and off the field, see how he handles a bad AB or poor inning on the mound. However, with video, the coaching staff gets to focus on things such as mechanics and ability much closer. Moreover, we use it as a quick reference and comparison on our recruited athletes.
6. Do you recruit from Junior Colleges?
Yes, and we are looking to increase our footprint in this area, howeve Ursinus is very selective with transfers, as a result so is the baseball program.
7. Can you break down your fall practice schedule? What will you try to accomplish?
We start in mid-September and end in Mid-October and do the maximum the NCAA allows for Division III. We practice “game like” situations all fall, i.e. inter-squad, control game situations all the while having our hitters and pitchers face off live as much as possible.
8. Do you have a strength and conditioning coach?
Yes. Our strength and conditioning coach is also our team athletic trainer. Since Ursinus has an Exercise and Sports Science major, many of our trainers teach classes and are certified in both ATC and strength and conditioning. Best of both worlds.
9. Anything planned for your facilities (upgrades, changes, etc.)?
We made significant improvements to our playing surface and hitting tunnel/area this year. Future plans are in the works to improve spectator seating and advance our multi-media access.
10. Is there anything you would like to add about your assistant coaches, recruits, parents, or program that we have not asked you about?
Ursinus has an incredible supportive community from the faculty and alumni to the parents hosting great tailgates after each home and away game, truly a community effort.
If there are any questions that you'd like to see our staff ask in future installments of "Conversations with College Coaches" or any schools that you'd like to see featured, please contact us at [email protected].
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