SAN ANTONIO – University of the Incarnate Word baseball head coach Ryan Shotzberger has been with the Cardinals for nearly a year. Although his first season at UIW was cut short, he had some big wins and learned a lot.
 
We caught up with Shotzberger to ask what his takeaways were, what is keeping him motivated right now, and more.
 

Ryan Shotzberger | Wilmington, Delaware | Baseball Head Coach
 
Q: Why did you decide to become a baseball coach?
A: I grew up around sports and have always had great coaches. My dad coached football (among other sports) at the high school level when I was growing up, so I was always at practices. Watching him and Mr. Lacsny go through the practices, putting kids through the drills, watching the old film on the projectors, I knew it was something I liked being around. I had a lot of people impact the decision to get into coaching - George Lacsny, Bob Gildea, John Huxtable, Danny Trivetts, Gary Camp, Doug Newell, Mark Schmittle, and Bob Tattersall, among others. I've always been fascinated with how different teams practiced and how to get the most out of each player. Baseball just turned into my sport of choice, but lessons learned playing other sports and being on teams with great leaders definitely structured what we try and do every day.
 
Q: At what age/under what circumstances did you start playing baseball?
A: I always grew up playing sports in my neighborhood. We'd play football, basketball, soccer, hockey, etc. If there could be a winner and a loser, me and my friends played it. When I was 12, my friends' (Kevin & BJ McKeown) mom signed me up for Little League with them without my parents' permission. I guess that was the first time I played "organized" baseball. We had been playing for years in the streets and parks around the neighborhood; some streets you'd hit right-handed, others left-handed. We didn't know the finer points of the game, but we all knew how to play catch, compete and win. Really, I think our parents got tired of helping us fix broken windows, gutters and busted screen porches.
 
Q: What is your favorite thing about being a coach?
A: Games days are always the most fun part of the job, but in the big picture, it's watching players come in and develop and graduate. It's the daily growth for each player (on and off the field) and seeing them come back years down the road with their families. The best stories are the guys having success off the field using the skills and tools they learned through playing baseball.
 
Q: What is something the community doesn't know about you?
A: I'm a big English Premier League and La Liga soccer fan. I enjoy watching players at the top of their professions compete.
 
Q: If you weren't coaching baseball, what sport would you be most interested in coaching and why?
A: I'd love to be a golf coach. I've seen some golf schedules – they have it figured out! (Hawaii, Bahamas, California, Carolinas, Florida) Resorts, great golf courses, no night games, and you get to be on a golf course every day. I've been fortunate to become good friends with the golf coaches at each school I've worked at, and I enjoy talking about the similarities between our sports and how to better our athletes.
 
Q: Although your first season at UIW didn't end the way you expected, what are some of the positive takeaways you have from the season?
A: Our guys never stopped playing hard. The group did a great job of adjusting the style of play and continuing to play our brand of baseball. We had a variety of players stand out throughout the shortened season, no matter position, class or experience. We had a really good group of leaders on this team who worked hard and raised the standard of the program. UIW is special to this group of seniors, and they did a great job of passing that on to the younger guys during the fall and throughout the spring. We were crushed to have the season end like it did, but we are excited about the future.
 
Q: What are you doing to stay motivated during this season of working from home?
A: My staff and I are always trying to come up with new ways to motivate, refine, and clearly deliver messages to our team. One thing I'm working on is a mental game focus/course for our guys to do in the fall. When your season gets cut so short, if you aren't motivated to get back on campus with the team, you are in the wrong profession. We talk all the time about controlling the controllable and having a #GOOD mentality. In these trying times, it's a reminder to continue to believe in those things.
 
Every day I'm trying to come up with little things to make us better; it could be in the recruiting process – for example how we recruit, who we recruit, when we recruit them, the graphics we use on social media – or what events we need to attend or host, future schedules, etc. I've been going over all of the plans for the fall with scheduling practices, lifts, off days, competitions, etc. I'm working on trying to come up with some fall events for alumni and how we can get better at keeping them involved in the program.
 
As unfortunate as the short season was, it has allowed me to reevaluate everything we did and make some adjustments going forward to make the program more efficient and ultimately better. We are excited about the group returning and look forward to getting the incoming class here.
 
Q: Who is the coach you most look up to, and why?
A: I grew up a huge fan of Bobby Bowden and the Florida State football program. I loved the sustained greatness they showed and his demeanor whenever I saw him interviewed. His "go for broke" aggressive approach to playing the game was always enjoyable, and he had really good players.
 
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