Long time friend of host Pete Caliendo, Dave Barnett joins the show and discusses how he stayed in the college game so long at the same school. So many great coaching, playing, and parent advice nuggets. Along with humor and the development of the game.
Just some of the things discussed:
- Why humor in coaching is needed and important?
- How were you able to stay in the game so long and at one college?
- Mentors along the way, advice they gave you.
- You played on the King and Its Court, tell us this great story.
- 4 things you learned from Coach Belichick that you still use today in coaching.
- Influence your youth coach had, you still remember his name and importance of coaches at that level.
- How have you adapted in the last 4-5 years as a coach.
- Using technology but not wasting to much time on it.
- Have we gotten away from teaching the fundamentals of the game at the young levels?
- Picking a college for players and parents.
- Scholarships available in college baseball.
- Educational scholarships.
- When having to cut a player, how do you make that decision.
- Going to see a player play, what turns you off about a player.
- So much more to this discussion.
Dave Barnett, Flagler College (Fla.)
The 2021 season marked Dave Barnett’s 34th season as head coach at Flagler College (Fla.). The winningest coach in program history, Barnett’s career coaching record stands at 982-791 (.554). Through the 2019 season, he ranked eighth in wins among active NCAA Div. II coaches and ranked 24th in all-time victories.
Barnett, who was inducted into the Flagler Athletics Hall of Fame in 2016, also the served as Flagler’s Athletics Director from 1994-2009, playing an instrumental role in the school’s transition to NCAA Div. II. During his 15 years as Athletics Director, Flagler added women’s golf, women’s soccer and fast-pitch softball to the athletics program. He oversaw the construction of the baseball stadium (2000), the softball stadium (2008) and major renovations to the soccer field and Flagler Gym. Under Barnett’s leadership, the program won two Florida Sun Conference Commissioner’s Cups and Barnett was named NAIA Region XIV Athletics Director of the Year in 2001.
As a member of the NAIA, Barnett’s teams qualified for conference tournament and regional play 16 out of 20 seasons before transitioning to NCAA Div. II status in 2009. Since their inaugural season as part of the Peach Belt Conference in 2010, Flagler has made six conference tournament appearances and were crowned regular season co-champs in 2019.
Having coached at every level of the game, Barnett got his coaching start at the high school level. In 1983, he started his coaching career at Jacksonville’s Episcopal High. After graduating with a bachelor’s from Flagler, Barnett then served as an assistant at the University of Iowa (1984-86) while obtaining a master’s in educational administration. He then moved back to Florida to assist at Valencia Community College. From there he was a coach at the Boardwalk & Baseball facility in Haines City, Florida, before accepting the head coaching position at Flagler in 1987.
In the summer of 2002 and 2003, Barnett served as the manager of the Vermont Expos, a Class A affiliate of the Montreal Expos in the New York-Penn League. He also has international coaching experience as he assisted a group of collegiate players participating in Holland as part of the Dutch Haarlem Baseball Week. Barnett was the head coach of a group of high school all-stars who toured and competed against teams throughout Italy.
As a collegiate player, Barnett’s career began at Seminole Community College in Sanford, Florida, before transferring to the University of North Carolina. He led the Tar Heels in batting average in 1978 and helped lead the team to the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska.
Following his successful collegiate career, Barnett signed a free agent contract with the Montreal Expos, and after one season he joined the world famous four-man fast-pitch softball team, “The King & His Court,” which featured the legendary Eddie Feigner. He barnstormed the world from 1980-83, and again in 1988, as the team’s shortstop.
A 35-year Lifetime ABCA Member, Barnett was inducted into the St. Augustine/St. Johns County Hall of Fame in 2008 and has been a featured clinician at state coaches clinics in Florida, Oklahoma, Wisconsin, Colorado and Maryland.
Incredible program with great coaches who are reaching out in helping the grassroots player and coaches.
Web Site: www.baseballoutsidethebox.com
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Email Caliendo19@gmail.com
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