"Normal Equals Average": Why 90% of Baseball Coaches Do This (And How to Stop)

Normal equals average. That single idea hits like a fastball under the hands, because it calls out the comfort that keeps programs stuck. We pull back the curtain on why talent and facilities won’t save a team that avoids adversity—and how a humble, hungry culture turns hard moments into momentum.

We start with the coach’s mirror: owning the postgame questions that matter. Did we prepare them for pressure, manage with intent, and teach adjustments, or did we fall back on routines that feel safe? Humility is not weakness; it’s the foundation of growth. When we label our mistakes in front of players, we teach them how to respond to theirs. From there, hunger becomes the engine. One more inning of film, one more tough conversation, one more targeted adjustment—these daily choices set a standard that players mirror when the game tightens.

You’ll hear practical frameworks to build a team that embraces adversity. We outline pressure-first practice design, with game-speed, consequence-driven scenarios that demand rapid decisions. We share debrief prompts that turn failure into feedback, and we show how to reward the grind: extra reps, self-scout habits, and resilient at-bats get the spotlight. Expect clear examples across travel, high school, and college contexts, plus mindset cues that keep your best hitter locked in during a slump and your ace composed after a crooked number.

If your program sometimes plays not to lose, this is your reset. Replace comfort with clarity, raise the bar you walk under every day, and watch players choose courage over excuses. Subscribe, share this with a coaching friend who needs a spark, and leave a review telling us the first standard you’re raising this week.

Chapters

• 0:00 Opening And Theme: Normal Equals Average
• 1:10 Show Intro And Sponsor Message
• 2:20 Why Comfort Creates Average Programs
• 4:20 Humble Enough To Learn
• 5:40 Hungry Enough To Push
• 7:00 Culture That Embraces Adversity
• 8:20 Practice Design For Pressure
• 9:20 Celebrate The Grind, Not Results
• 10:10 Final Charge And Partner Credits

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 0:00

Today, on a New Year's Eve edition of Baseball Coaches Unplugged, normal equals average, the one quote that should change how you coach baseball forever. We take a dive into why the majority of coaches are settling and how to stop. Next on Baseball Coaches Unplugged.

SPEAKER_01: 0:28

This is the Ultimate High School Baseball Coaching Podcast, Baseball Coaches Unplugged, your go-to podcast for baseball coaching tips, drills, and player development strategies. From travel to high school and college. Unlock expert coaching advice grounded in real success stories, data-backed training methods, and mental performance tools to elevate your team. Tune in for bite-sized coaching wisdom, situational drills, team culture building, great stories and proven strategies that turn good players into great athletes. The only podcast that showcases the best coaches from across the country. With your host, Coach Ken Carpenter.

SPEAKER_00: 1:09

Today's episode of Baseball Coaches Unplugged is powered by the Netting Professionals Improving Programs One Facility at a time. Will Minor and his team at the Netting Pros specialize in the design, fabrication, and installation of custom netting for baseball and softball. This includes backstops, batting cages, BP turtles, screens, ball carts, and more. They also design and install digital graphic wall padding, windscreen, turf, turf protectors, dugout benches, and cubbies. The Netting Pros also work with football, soccer, lacrosse, golf courses, and now pickleball. Contact them today at 844-620-2707. That's 844-620-2707, or visit them online at www.nettingprose.com. Check out Netting Pros on X, Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn for all their latest products and projects. If you enjoyed today's show, please be sure to hit the subscribe button and leave us a review. It helps us to grow the show. We put out a new episode with some of the best baseball coaches across the country every Wednesday at 5 a.m. Today I want to talk about something that separates the programs that consistently compete from the ones that perpetually underachieve. It's not talent, it's not facilities, it's not even budget, though I know we'd all love to have a little bit more of that. It's how you handle adversity. It's what you do when failure punches you in the mouth, and more importantly, it's whether you stay humble enough to learn and hungry enough to keep pushing when every everyone else settles. Let me start with Nick Saban, football coach, Alabama, Michigan State, LSU, Cleveland Browns. Love them or hate them. He said something that should be tattooed on every coach's brain. He said, normal equals average. Think about that for a second. Normal equals average. And in baseball, average gets you a 500 record. And a whole lot of what could have been conversations in the parking lot when the season ends. Here's the thing. Being normal is actually really comfortable. Normal means you show up, run your practice, go through the motions, and nobody rocks the boat. Normal means when your team loses a tough one, you give the standard post-game speech and everyone goes home feeling okay about it. Normal means you coach the way you've always coached because, hey, it's worked well enough. But let me ask you this: do you want to be well enough or do you want to be exceptional? Because here's what I've learned in all my years around the game. High achievers, the coaches out there that I see winning all the time, the coaches who build programs that last, the ones whose players come back 10 years later and thank them, they understand something that's fundamental. They understand that adversity isn't the enemy. Adversity is the curriculum. Failure isn't something to avoid. Failure is the best teacher that you'll ever have. Think about your best players. I guarantee you, every single one of them has failed more than they've succeeded. Your ace pitcher, he's given up home runs in big spots. Your cleanup hitter, he struck out with the bases loaded. But they didn't quit. They didn't make excuses. They went in the cage, they threw bull pens, did whatever they needed to do, and they figured it out. They learned from failure. Now here's what it where it gets uncomfortable for us as coaches. We need to do the same thing. We need to look in the mirror, we need to and when we lose to ask ourselves the hard questions. Did I prepare them well enough? Did I put them in a position to succeed? Was my gain management on point point? Did I miss something in practice that could have made the difference? That's humility, coaches, and humility isn't weakness. It's the foundation of growth. The moment you think you've got it all figured out, the moment you stop learning, stop adapting, stop listening, that's the moment you become average. And that's the moment you will become normal. But staying humble alone isn't enough. You've also got to stay hungry. You got to wake up every single day with the fire in your belly that says, we're not done yet. We can be better. We will be better. That hunger is what drives you to watch one more inning a film. That hunger is what pushes you to have tough conversations with your players who are coasting. That hunger is what makes you study your opponents, adjust your approach, and never, ever settle. Let me tell you something about comfortable coaches. Comfortable coaches have the same practice plan. They've used it for 15 years. Don't attend coaching conferences. Comfortable coaches blame umpires, blame weather, blame the schedule. Comfortable coaches talk about what their teams used to do, not what they're going to do. And you know what? Comfortable coaches produce comfortable players. And comfortable players fold the moment adversity shows up. Because adversity, every coach knows it, it will show up. It's baseball. Your ace is going to get lit up one day. Your best hitter is going to go in a slump. You're going to lose a game that you should have won. You're going to have injuries, distractions, drama, parents questioning what you do. The question is isn't whether adversity will come. The question is what are you going to do when it does? This is where your culture matters. This is where the foundation you built either holds or crumbles. If you created a program where failure is unacceptable, where kids are afraid to make mistakes, where everything has to be perfect, you're setting yourself up for disaster. Because when adversity hits, your players won't know how to handle it. They'll panic, they'll point fingers, they'll quit. But if you created a culture where adversity is expected, where failure is part of the learning process, where your players know that the only unacceptable response is not trying. Then you got something special. Then you've got a team that can weather any storm. So how do you build that? How do you create a program that embraces adversity instead of avoiding it? First you got to model it. Your players are watching you every single day. When you make a mistake, and you will, own it. When you lose, don't make excuses. Show them what it's look what it looks like to be humble and hungry. Show them what it looks like to learn from failure and come back stronger. Second, create opportunities for them to fail in practice. This is critical. Make practice harder than the games. Put them in pressure situations. Let them struggle. And when they fail, because they will, help them process it. What did we learn? What will we do differently next time? How does this make us a better team? Third, you gotta celebrate the grind, not just the results. Praise the kid who stays after practice to work on his swing. Recognize the player who studies ways to get better on his own. Acknowledge the team that battles back from a five-run deficit, even if they come up short. Make it clear that being driven, being hungry, being humble, those are the values that matter. And finally, never ever settle. The moment you accept good enough, your players will too. The moment you stop pushing for excellence, they'll stop too. You set the standard. You establish the culture. You determine whether normal is acceptable or whether you're chasing something more. Look, I I get it. Being driven is exhausting. Staying hungry hungry is uncomfortable. Remaining humble requires constant reflection. Self-reflection. It's so much easier to just be normal, to go through the motions, to accept average, to be able to handle all of those situations and be like, ah, it's okay. But you didn't get in coaching to be average, did you? You got into this because you love the game. You love developing young people. You love the challenge of building something special. And building something special requires you to be something special. So I'll leave you with this. Normal equals average, but you're not normal. Your program isn't normal. Your players are not normal. You're driven, you're hungry, you're humble enough to learn and tough enough to keep pushing them when everyone else wants to quit. Adversity's coming. Failure is inevitable. The question is, are you ready to use it as fuel? Are you ready to teach your players that setbacks are setups for the comebacks? Are you ready to be uncomfortable in the pursuit of excellence? Because if you are, there's no limit to what your program can become. Now get out there and coach like it matters because it does. Baseball Coaches Unplugged is a proud partner of the netting professionals improving programs, one facility at a time. Contact them today at 844-620-2707. That's 844-620-2707, or check them out online at www.nettingpros.com. As always, I'm your host, Coach Ken Carpenter. Thanks for listening to Baseball Coaches Unplugged.