36 Years, 1,401 Games, and the Legacy Beyond Wins | Ep. 54 Tim Neiman

868 wins. 36 years. 14 Coach of the Year awards.

And Tim Neiman will tell you straight — none of that is the point.

Tim Neiman is the DeSales University Head Coach with one of the most decorated careers in NCAA Division III baseball history. In 36 years and 1,401 games, he has built a .638 winning percentage, nine NCAA Tournament appearances, eleven conference championships, and a College World Series appearance in 2003. Thirteen of his players have signed professional contracts. He has been inducted into four halls of fame. He served as an associate scout for both the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Milwaukee Brewers.

He is also the author of two books — What is Your LEGACY and Team Killers — host of the Straight Lines Podcast, creator of From the Trustees Chair, a TV color analyst, and a board member for the Miracle League of the Lehigh Valley and St. Luke's Health Network.

But here is what sets Tim apart from every other coach with a long resume: he has spent 36 years asking the question most coaches never get around to. Not "how do we win?" — but "what are we building, and who are these young men becoming?"

In this episode, Erin Sarles and Thomas Roe sit down with Tim to talk about what sustained excellence actually requires, what team killers look like before they destroy a program, and what legacy means when the final out is made and the scoreboard goes dark.

In this episode: — The biggest lie culture sells coaches and players about what it takes to build sustained excellence — What 36 years at one institution taught Tim about building programs that last — What "team killers" are, how they show up, and how to eliminate them before they spread — How his experience as a professional scout shaped the way he develops and evaluates players — What legacy beyond wins and championships actually looks like — What coaches, parents, and players need to understand about choosing the right environment

This one is for every coach building a program. Every player trying to understand what character and competition really mean. Every parent trying to choose the right environment for their athlete.

Connect with Tim: Straight Lines Podcast Books: What is Your LEGACY & Team Killers From the Trustees Chair

The Standard Podcast™ — Raise the bar. Rebuild the culture. Become the standard.

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Good morning and welcome, team, to the standard, to our standard podcast, where we raise the bar, rebuild the culture, and call out the lies or misconceptions that nobody else will. This isn't motivation, this is a movement. I'm Thomas Rowe, joined by my co-host and co-founder, Aaron Charles, and today we're sitting down with Skimber Tim Nyman, DeSales University head coach for 36 years, and with a career record of 868 to 528 and 5, which represents a 0.638 winning percentage across 1,400 games coached. Tim's credentials speak to the understanding or sustained excellence at the highest level of college baseball. Nine NCAA Division III tournament appearances, including a college World Series appearance in 2003, 14 Coach of the Year awards, 11 conference championships, 13 former players who have signed professional contracts. But here's what makes Tim's story powerful. His impact extends far beyond wins and losses. He's been inducted into the Pennsylvania American Region Hall of Fame, Penn Bridge Quakertown Sports Hall of Fame, Quaker Town's School District Wall of Fame, and the Miracle League of Lehigh Valley Hall of Fame. He served as an associate scout for both the Pittsburgh Pirates and Milwaukee Brewers, and has been recognized by the Middle Atlantic Scouts Association for his career contribution. Tim understands what coaching is about building character and not just collective victory, collecting victories as author of two books, What is Your Legacy and Teen Killers, host of the straight line podcast, and creator of Form the Trustees Chair. Tim brings decades of wisdom about what it takes to build winning programs and develop young men of character. We're diving into the truth behind what it really takes to build identity, discipline, and legacy in sports and in life. Let's get into it. Skipper, thanks so much for joining us. We really appreciate you taking time out of your day to be with us.

SPEAKER_02 2:06

I'm truly humbled and honored to be with you, Tom and Aaron. And I appreciate your time and all the good work you're doing. And hopefully I can bring a little something to the table today.

SPEAKER_01 2:17

No, with all those accolades, definitely you're going to be bring some pearls. You're at Distell's University Head Coach for 36 years with an 868-528 career uh record across 1,400 games. You won 14 Coach of the Year awards and 11 conference championships. Skipper, what does raising the standard mean to you after nearly four decades of building winning programs?

SPEAKER_02 2:41

It's all about people. I mean, I didn't, you know, I didn't throw a pitch or swing a bat in anger and any of those 1,401 games. You know, I didn't throw. It's about the people that you've got. The kids, you know, won 868 games. You know, as a leader, you know, as the head coach for the sales baseball, you know, I wasn't very good in those 500 plus games. I mean, those are I I share, I take the losses and they get the credit for the wins. And I did a great job. It was just super, super kids. And, you know, this the standard is I think you go out and play, play the game the right way. And I think this, I think a lot of baseball correlates into uh athletics and business as well, where you know you set some standards, but you got to be a good leader out in front, and and people will follow you, but before you lead, you you must be able to follow. And I think our job as leaders is to create more leaders. And I think we've been able to do that over the years. The successes do not come, you know, from all those wins. Again, I didn't play, and they I just tried to steal away. The successes come from what they are doing now. You know, they're they're better husbands, better fathers, better employees, you know, you name it, you know, and they've become leaders in their own right, majority of them. So we don't that's what it's about. You know, that I always said, you know, they come in and they're boys and they leave us men. And ultimately, that was the goal. And that's what I always felt mattered to me. And now, you know, now that we're I'm retired, I had a lot of guys that play for me. And and I just I say to them, look, I'll never be up on all your social media stuff while you play for me. But when you when you're gone, you graduate, you will be my social media friend, Facebook or whatever, because I want to know what you're doing. You know, I know I want to know how you're doing, you know, I want to know if you need me. And I always kind of in my text message to them, you know, here for you always. And and that's being a leader, you know, it's not so much of your own. So the standard is, you know, let's be good people. You know, how about we start with that? And then, you know, the structure of the organization and then the process takes over for itself. But, you know, I I always quote this Joe Consoli, Scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates, who I worked for back in the late 80s, signed more Major League players than anybody ever walked the face of the earth. And I'll never forget, he told me, Timmy, you know, after all the evaluation is done, find out what kind of a person he is, and person he or she is in the business world. And that's the standard. You know, that that to me is a standard. What kind of people am I surrounding myself with and be willing to celebrate the success of others? I just posted from the trustee chair yesterday, and there was about a two-minute clip on celebrating the success of others. I think that's hard. I think it sounds so simple, but man, how many times do we see, you know, boy, I hope that guy doesn't do as well as I did. You know, I don't want, I don't want, you know, I don't want to, you know, I want to be the best, you know. But heck, if if we stop there, there's no growth. There's no there's no upward action to that. So we set that standard, and somebody come else comes along and successful, you know, they elevate the standard and it becomes boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, and all of a sudden you have a legacy, and you've got you know, it's just continued growth. So, you know, it's kind of it. I you know, you can't, you know, there's a lot of coaches out there, they you know think it's all about them. And even in business, the CEOs and managers, they think, no, it's not, it's about your team and surrounding yourself with good people.

SPEAKER_01 6:33

No question. You touch on something really interesting because I had a coaching mentor say to me, When you get into coaching or teaching or being a mentor, it's delayed gratification, T Row. And what I mean by that is when the team wins, the players take credit. When the team loses, the coaches have to take the responsibility. And how you develop these young men and women into how you develop these young boys and girls into men and women, you're not going to find that out until much later in life. And then you get to see the impact that you've made. And that being said, what's the biggest lie you feel the culture of the sports industry has sold coaches and players about what it takes to build, sustain excellence, and develop character through athletics?

SPEAKER_02 7:12

Well, I think it's a great question. And I think asking great questions is great for podcasts. I, you know, I think a lot of younger coaches and guys that perhaps can't check the ego at the door, you know, think they can read a book, listen to a podcast, do do whatever. And all of a sudden they've got this script, you know, this this program that if I implement all this stuff that that was said or I read or whatever, I'm gonna be instantly successful. And well, that's great. And we all read and we all learn, and we're and I'm a lifelong learner as well as you guys. I mean, that's that's critical to do that, but until you actually get in the trenches and do it and and get the people that work for you or play for you, get them to trust you and know that you care, then you're probably not gonna get anywhere. So I think a lot of times people, you know, young coaches, especially. Well, I've got all this stuff. I've learned in a clinic, I've got, you know, all these X's and O's, whatever, no matter what the sport I'm gonna implement them and bang, you know, I'm gonna win. Well, first of all, we've got to define winning in another way, you know. And second of all, it doesn't work that way. It really doesn't. So until they trust you and they care about, know that you care, they'll do great things for you, players, employees, anybody else. But if you're a little phony about those kinds of things and um and you're a little sterile in the kinds of stuff that you roll out, you know, the the phoniness doesn't go very far. The kids are intelligent these days, as are staff members, employees. I mean, they're they're intelligent. You're not gonna, the BS meter, if you will, is pretty high in a lot of people these days. And I think mine as well. You know, so they're gonna look past all that. They want to know you, the person. They want to know if you care, want to know if you love them, you know, and they will they they want to know if they are heard. So I think the biggest lie, misconception really is I, you know, they, you know, we have there's all coaching books and methods and everything out there and clinics. And I always felt if I go to a coaching clinic, I got one thing out of it. That was pretty successful. But I'm trying to build my own, my own process, my own, you know, personality. It's got to fit all that together. Quick cool story. Uh I was at a coaching clinic one time, and Gary Ward, head coach of Oklahoma State University, talked three hours on hitting. A couple things I remembered. He went, he went three 50-minute sessions. He was working so hard, he changed t-shirts between sessions. Number two, he that was the time the VHS cassette tapes in the hitting tape, very primitive, but pretty good stuff. And I can only get 40 in my bag that I could stuff under my seat on the airplane, and he sold them like in minutes. You know, the last thing was talking about fitting personality, the definition of hitting was the sequential unlocking of body parts to maximize bat speed at the point of contact. I'm like, hmm, pretty good. So I'm a young American legion coach at the time. I'm like, well, you know, as I look back, he was right. It's kind of that's correct. But am I going to go back and tell my 16, 17-year-olds, all right, here's what you've got to understand. It's a sequential unlocking of body parts to maximize bat speed at the point of contact. I don't think so. You know, I don't think so. It doesn't quite fit. So how do I rephrase that, you know, kind of make it my own and deliver that kind of point, you know, to players? And I think that's coaching. But I can't go back and I think young guys will walk out. All right, and we're gonna lock ourselves in and plug ourselves into the, you know, to the electrical outlet, which is a batter's box, and we're gonna sequentially unlock our body parts. I don't know. Maybe it works for some, you know, but I think the biggest you've got to be your own person. Right. You gotta, you've gotta understand, you know, what it is that you got through there in the first place, and then develop them and keep learning. And some things are are good, some things maybe uh sounds great, not so good for me. And and you you you go on from there.

SPEAKER_01 11:19

No question. No question. Skipper, you've been in a a scout for the Pirates and the Brewers, and you made nine NCA tournament appearances and sent 13 players to professional contracts. How do you experience evaluating talent and professional level athletes and how they understand of what separates good players from great ones?

SPEAKER_02 11:41

Well, that's another really good question. And, you know, at the end of the day, but you've got to have ability, obviously. You know, so we've got you know, so let's assume you know, we're seeing guys play and you know that we really like somebody as Joe Casoli said, bear down on them, you know, bear down on them, find out what kind of person he was. And I think that magic word makeup is the differentiator in many things. Now, in this day and age, with all the data analytics, kind of got away from it at that touch. But I think you can watch a college game, high school game, you know, a pro game, and really watch how guys act, especially for guys that want to play professional baseball. You know, so I I mean, we another story, we went to a game early. He wanted to be there to see this kid, how he how he arrived at the ballpark. And, you know, he got out, loved him, free player got out and his hats on backwards, and you know, he's got sandals on. I mean, just the presentation wasn't good. Yeah. And we didn't stay. We left, and he didn't care, you know. But he would always say, just because you're not a prospect for the Pittsburgh Pirates, doesn't mean you're not a prospect for somebody else. A very nice way, you know, to let people down. But you know, that makeup part of it, what kind of a person here means so much. But you've got to have some tools too. You've got to be able to run and throw and hit and hit with power and play defense, body control, all those, all those things that are factored in. And I think the best scouts out there right now blend all that stuff together. You know, you got back then I had the radar gun, it was weighed about 22 pounds, I think. You know, and it was slower than today's gun, by the way. You know, the TV guns are probably three miles an hour faster, at least. We had the ray gun, the stopwatch, and maybe a couple of cones of the tape measure, you know, to run a 60-yard gash. But now they've got information everywhere. Yeah. You know, so, but you still gotta have feel for the game. You still gotta have a feel for the game as a player and a scout. It's like Clint Eastwood's movie, Trouble with a Curve, right? He could hear the Smith, crack of the bat, you know. Yeah, I did a broadcast last night in the AAA Club, the Iron Pigs, and you know, you're watching a mire a little bit, trying to see where the pitches go, and then what kind of pitch, and all of a sudden you hear a crack in a bat, right? And I I know just watching on TV, but I hear the crack, you look up and say, hmm, yeah, that ball's hit pretty good. So some of those, some of those skills, you know, that that you've gotta have. But kids are the delusion factor out there is huge. And it's, you know, kind of we're all thought, you know, high school, travel ball, youth, baseball, so everybody's got a little bit of a skin in this game. And I think different levels dictate what people should be doing at different ages. But if you want to get noticed, you know, give them something. But don't go to a showcase if you're a high school kid and you have nothing to showcase. Right. You know, you can't run, or you don't run well, let's put it that way. You don't throw well, you look like you hit what you don't. Hitters hit. Doesn't matter what they look like, but you don't hit, you know, so you're written off pretty quickly, and that word starts to get around, you know. Hey, what about Tim Nyman? Well, you know, he can't move, he's he's slow, you know, throws, knows how to pitch, but he's, you know, velocity's down, you know, so you're kind of cut out in a hurry because everybody talks to each other. And that's something parents and players don't realize. Biggest thing I could tell in any sport is go watch a college game. Two things. Go to their camp if they have one, because you get to interact with the coaching staff and their players typically. So you get a good feel for what's going on between the lines. And outside of that, go watch them play. You just you you know and you know, kind of judge. All right, here's Roman. Can I realistically go and play college baseball? Was that the sales university, or can I play field hockey, you know, which is big on this end of the end of the country? I mean, can I go play at those places and be realistic about it, knowing that the bottom line is you're going to get an education. That's first and foremost. And if the sport's a vehicle to help you achieve that, that's a really good thing. You know, so you know, let's see, you know, see. I think I think if we can crack through a little bit of the delusion and get through to more of the reality of it all, I think parents and players will benefit immensely.

SPEAKER_01 16:15

Totally agree. Well said. I mean, one of the things that we try to stress and what we hear from the uh college and pro ranks is it's no longer about bigger, faster, stronger. It's also about character, integrity, and discipline. I mean, you you just have to be a well-rounded athlete nowadays, especially with the transfer portal and NIL. And on that one, I'm going to turn it over to Aaron, which is segment two, identity and legacy. Aaron, take it away.

SPEAKER_00 16:40

Hi, Tim. So glad you can join us today. I would love for you to share with our audience. I mean, Thomas did a beautiful job of setting up all your accolades, everything that you've done. But who is Tim beyond all of those things on that are on paper? Who is Tim?

SPEAKER_02 16:58

Another, another really good question. And I was on a I was on a Zoom call with a guy who's really known for communications. He's known for asking damn good questions. And and quite frankly, uh you've all asked correct questions. So who is Tim Nine? And you know, I guess simply I would say this, you know, if when I pass, whenever I move on to the next world, you know, on my tombstone, I just wanted to say, what a great guy. You know, that's basically it. You know, he was, you know, what a great guy. And then then, you know, all the other stuff is left behind, all the stuff Tom read, and you know, those are great, those are things that proud of when I was here on this earth. But at the same time, you know, making an impact for somebody else, being meaningful for somebody else, helping somebody else along their path. And that's really what I'm cut out for. I, you know, as my mom used to say, who passed in October at my age of 91, beautiful life, you know, she said, you know, son, you're laying up treasures. I'm like, ooh, and of course, she was saying that for a long time, and probably wasn't until about 10 or 15 years ago that it dawned on me what she was trying to say. And uh, you know, so son, you're laying up treasures. And you know, he was a really good guy and laid up a lot of treasures. And I guess that would describe me in a nutshell.

SPEAKER_00 18:18

I love that. That's so awesome. I hope we all lay up a lot of treasures, and that's all of our legacy is that we are just good human beings. And you've even wrote a book on it, what's your legacy? And you've coached 1401 games and developed hundreds of young men. What does legacy beyond wins and championships mean to you?

SPEAKER_02 18:41

Yeah, and that's and then that's something, and I wrote the book. I actually did a speech in the American Baseball Coaches Association, it was a virtual edition because of COVID. So I flew down to Greensboro, North Carolina, and and did the speech on the front of the camera. So I look like I had a little bit of experience doing that. But you know, I'm like, what you know, yeah, I'm there probably because you know we won some games. I'm there maybe because you know, become a little bit of a statesman, perhaps. But I'm like, you know, they asked me what I want to speak about, uh, and I said, I'd rather not go into X's and O's and stuff people have heard many times in different forms. How about we give them something a little bit different? And they were all on board, and I thought it went well. And I and I talk about these things, other than what's going on in any game, you know, and it's love, empower, giving, accountability, commitment, and a yearning. And those are it's an acronym, you know, for legacy. And I wrote about all those aspects of things. And I and they're all really important. You gotta love what you do, love your people. You and I think empowering people is giving you those tools to create more leaders because if you don't empower, you know, why have them? Let get your assistant coaches coach, let your you know, staff have input. You know, those that's kind of stuff. Giving, you know, we all don't have maybe the capacity to give financially, you know, but we all can give time. We all can give time. So volunteer, you know, I was with America League for a long time, serving on a board of trustees. Yeah, you know, give, be a giver, and you'll re- get in return, not that you should expect anything, but you'll get in return much more than you probably need. Of course, accountability goes without saying, but you know, like people need to depend on you, they need to trust you. You know, if they can't, then you know, well, what what good are you, really? I mean, you know, do what you say you're gonna do and do it well. Commitment? Yeah, yeah. If you better commit to what it is you like to do, you guys are committed to what you're doing. You know, I'm very committed post-retirement to, you know, this new chapter in my life. And yearning, you know, what what swells your heart at the end of the day? What makes you feel good? You know, you got you went to bed at night like, man, I you know, I feel pretty good about that. I I recently met with a cancer support community group in in my area here in the Greater Leon Valley. And man, I just felt good. I walked in, it's like I got the facilities tour and met with uh one of their one of the directors, and I thought, wow, this is this is pretty good. And I think you should always remember you're not alone in any of your endeavors. You're not any of your situations are not unique to you. There are others that share them, others that experience the same stuff. You know, so at the end of the day, that yearning part, yeah, I feel good about some of the things that I've been doing and have done. And when I go to bed tonight, it's like, well, I think I might have made a difference for one person. If I can get one person because of my health problems, you know, recently to to go get checked for, you know, I can teloscopy. Or prostate or whatever, you know, yeah, made an impact. That's okay. Um, that's the yearning that makes my heart swell.

SPEAKER_00 22:07

I love it. You've written another book about team killers, um, which I think is so timing or fitting in today's day and age. So, what are the behaviors and attitudes that destroy team cultures? And what's programs with that have built character and sustain success from the ones that don't?

SPEAKER_02 22:28

Yeah, that one uh is a little different approach. You know, I I I turn it into it's gonna be a speech too, but I use different aspects of it. But uh like how many books and speakers and yeah, you know, there's five ways to do this, ten ways to do that, 38 ways to do that, 95 ways. How about you tell me what to what to look out for? How about me what not to do? So I go through one of our seasons where we had we're really good. And you know, there's some bumps and adversity that you couldn't believe, you know, that you don't sign up for. But, you know, are you gonna be a leader and handle those kinds of things, or are you gonna crawl on the hole and let it eat you up? You know, I talk right away about you know being con being content with what you do. Look, being content's great, it's a good feeling, but what else can I do? I need to move on to the next thing. You know, I talk about transfer of a hand. That's that for me is a big topic. I think it's so easy to say, it's somebody else's fault. It's you know, somebody, somebody else did that. You know, uh it's not my fault. And boy, you've learned absolutely nothing if you don't take account of accountability for that. And usually when that happens, you start to create a little drama, right? Somebody, oh, it's Sally's fault. You know, it's Harry's fault. And all of a sudden they're acting and they're talking to somebody else, and all of a sudden it's fester's, and it really becomes a problem because it wasn't dealt with initially. That accepting responsibility is all what you should be doing. It's not you're not blaming others for our actions. You can't. So talk about that, the drama. Then of course, you know, it creates some panic. You know, everybody's kind of covering themselves, and I don't want to, you know, I gotta be careful here. And there's no productivity, you know. That's the drama, the panic. And then of course it becomes fear, you know. Oh my gosh, what's gonna happen to me? And you know, they're talking about, and none of this may be true. None of it just came from one person that, you know, said something that wouldn't take accountability. So you have that fear, and I actually did an I Love acronym as you can tell. But I made one up for my team, and you know, everybody goes through sums. Philadelphia Phillies right now are awful, you know. And are you playing are you playing with fear? Are you afraid? Let me give you something here. How about we focus, we execute, we attack, and then we relax. Relax. That's fear. I just gave you fear. Go play, you know, go execute, go do what you do what you need to do. But if you can't get by those things, all of a sudden the worst thing that can happen is the entire organization is contaminated. Now, what do I do? Now what do I do? So, you know, one of my favorite stories in the book is I I drew up the I'm this old, I don't look at it I don't think, but I'm this old here on a blackboard. There's a blackboard, and I had chalk, and I drew a garbage can on the blackboard. And I hear all this stuff, and we've hit a couple different levels of the things I'm describing. And I said, All right, you know, that's it. We're gonna rest it right now. We'll point in the net. And I said, I want to hear everybody in this team meeting. You tell me what bothered you. Say it out loud and say it in front of anybody else, because if you don't, it has no value, it's no meaning, nobody's anonymous. We want to hear it. We're a team. You know, so I started with a couple easy things. And before you know, I had about a dozen things that were kind of something I knew about, something that I didn't know about. So I wrote them around the garbage can, and then I said, okay, that's it. We've discussed, we're moving on. The good Lord puts eyes in front of our head to see where we're going, not dwell on this stuff. You know, we're gonna move forward. So I drew arrows, you know, into the garbage can, threw a lid, put it on top of the can, and said, that's it. We're done. We're gonna move on. So I think if you can get to that, you know, if you're really wondering, if you're worried about being contaminated, that might be a good thing to do. Maybe big organizations might be hard of, but your management team, your leadership team, you know, the people that you trust and care about, you know, that get it, the big picture, is a pretty good way to do it. So the Teen Pillars book was a lot of fun to write. And it's really in the back of that became the focus of straight lines, you know, because that's really what we're talking about. And I loved it. I just thought, oh, you know, gosh, something different. Everybody tells you what to do and how to do it. And well, that's great. We kind of stick to the plan. Maybe some of it works, some of it doesn't, you know, you don't adjust. And I'm gonna tell you what to look out for. And then I gave lots of ways to go ahead and, you know, there's some anecdotes and solutions to that. Oh, everybody's got everybody can identify a problem. Help about, how about give me a solution or two? Something I can use, like going to a coaching plan. Give me that one thing, and the book is good, successful in that fashion.

SPEAKER_00 27:24

That's awesome. So, my final question before I turn it back over to Thomas is what is one truth you wish every young coach, player, and parent understood about developing character through athletics today?

SPEAKER_02 27:40

Yeah, that's another good question. They've got to they've got to realize that sports are a vehicle for the big picture, the future, the better husbands and wives and daughters and employees and and all that. That to me is the biggest thing, uh, character-wise. Nobody wants to be around people that you know have all the answers, right? Yeah, I got all the answers. And I think also try to be a great listener, which is a really tough skill. We're not born with that. You know, we're not born. We want attention. We're screaming as babies, trying to get that attention. But you've got to stop and listen, and and you might be surprised what you've learned. And then don't be quick to speak, don't be quick to react. Listen and pause a minute and digest it and go on from there. But there's so many things wrapped up in being a good person, being a character. I like to close a lot of my talks with the world is full of good people. If you can't find one, make sure you are one. Make sure you be one. And I think that advice by itself says a lot. So you can't, you know, you just there's so many, there's so many distractions and things pulling at you one way or the other, and grass is always greener, and you know, how do we make the grass we're standing on greener by fertilizing and moving along? But get out of that little narrow mindset if you're a parent and an athlete, and get into okay, what's coming next? Sometimes it's hard to ascertain that. You know, I think females are certainly more focused on what they want to do as college athletes for for the most part. Males, not so much. The boys may not want to play baseball. Oh, by the way, we have books here at the school, so they're gonna have to open one or two, you know, but it becomes a vehicle for their future success. They may not realize it right away. I always said, you know, it's amazing how you know my sons are older and are coaching baseball and doing really well. But it's amazing how much smarter I became, you know, probably in our mid-20s. You know, it's a time where they buy you out, you know, 15, 16, and all of a sudden that, oh yeah, my dad used to say that. Oh yeah, I used to hear that from, you know, this, you know, it's amazing how smart you become. So as a parent, hang in there, do the right thing. You know, as a young person, if you can learn how to listen and and kind of stay on course, keep the straight line, if you will, know what your North Star is, then you'll end up getting there, willing to make changes as needed.

SPEAKER_00 30:16

Awesome. I'm gonna toss it back over to Thomas.

SPEAKER_01 30:20

Awesome. Thanks, Skipper. Thanks, Aaron. Skipper, segment three advice across all stages. I think this one's a very important one. If you could sit down with yourself as a young coach, just starting out, before you understood about 36 years, 1,400 games, what advice would you give that younger version of Tim about building programs and developing players?

SPEAKER_02 30:43

Yeah, I, you know, I think I was that guy, I was 30 years old, you know, and coaching college baseball. And, you know, you know, I'm gonna be here five years. I'm going to win a lot of games. I'm gonna put the sales on the map, we're gonna be in a national picture, you know, all that stuff that we all have aspirations to do as young coaches. And you know, we did those things, but that was for my satisfaction. You know, it wasn't really focused on, you know, what was important to the people that I was serving. So, and that maybe didn't happen until, you know, maybe I don't know, before half, maybe the after a quarter of my career, maybe in the early 2000s. I'm like, wow, we win a lot. And I guess I came to fruition one time. We were we were in 2005 in a regional tournament, and we got knocked out. We're 35 and 10, ranked in the top five in the country. And I got back to campus, and our our controller, the guy that signs the checks, he and a good guy, really good guy. And he says, uh, tough year. Like, oh my goodness gracious, tough year. 35 and 10, ranked fifth, you know. I don't know why, because we didn't get back to the World Series, you know. And I thought to myself, oh my goodness. And I'm I'm like, really, is that what you know, that's not what this is about? And I think that what the light bulb went on, man, it said, you know, and I'm more proud of the doctors and the lawyers and the managers and and whoever, the post homeworkers, whatever they're doing in their life, that makes me happy. So I think looking back, maybe if I can realize that a little bit earlier stage, at least start blending it in much more. Not that I didn't care about the players I had. I mean, there's some really good ones that are doing great things. And I was a little closer to their age too, which can be difficult. You've got to try to, you know, try to have some separation. You're you know, not their formed, but they need to care and trust you. And, you know, so you need to establish all that. But I wish I would have done that maybe perhaps a little bit sooner. Might not have one as many games, I don't know, but I think the culture that you create, you know, is about your your people you serve, whether it's your employees or players or whoever else whoever else you are impacting.

SPEAKER_01 33:01

Right, right. You know, one of the questions that we always ask when we ask this earlier, you know, what are the lies and misconceptions of the sports industry and so forth? But what about real talk? What about shooting straight with young athletes and families? You know, one of the things that Aaron and I focus on is let's find a school that matches your skill set to put so you can play the long game about your professional career outside of sports. And for that, what about parents and young players? What should they understand about choosing programs and coaches who will develop character alongside their athletic ability?

SPEAKER_02 33:39

At the end of the day, if you're a parent, especially a parent, the kids maybe not understand it, but man, I want authenticity. I mean, I want the truth. I think most do, some maybe not. They want to be, you know, they like to be told, you know, how good everything is. And boy, you got to be truthful. And I I've created this thing. There's five fits to trying to choose a school, if you will. Academic fit, and it's in this order, too, by the way. Academic fit, you know, what do I want to study? And again, females a little more focused, want to be a nurse, you know, PT, whatever. The men, not so much. You know, they want to play baseball or play a sport. But an academic fit first and foremost. I had a kid tell me he was that he was a freshman at the sales, pretty good player. And he said, I really want to get into fish cultures. I'm like, okay, you know, we have to just figure out where those schools offer that. There weren't many, and he found one and transferred, and that's what he does for a living. That's good. That's really good. If you want to be an engineer, you know, the school I was at didn't have engineering. And it just took some honesty and truth to say, look somewhere else, okay? So academic fit, social fit second. Hey, they got my major, really happy. Social, how what's it like, you know, beyond the sport, beyond the activity, you know, size of school, maybe there's a religious affiliation. Is that, you know, what's important to you? How's the food? How the dorms? Is it clean? Do people open the doors for you? I mean, all those kinds of things. So far enough away from home or close to home. Big factor for a lot of kids and families. All right, so let's assume, yeah, we like academic fit, got my major. I love the school. Next, the big one is can we afford it? It's a financial fit. And with all the grants and everything else, you need to ask the questions, you know, how can I get there? And most schools will try to make it work if they know that you really want to go to that school. And that's important. Next is the athletic fit. You know, so I've got all these other things in place. First, now is an athletic fit. How do I know a school really wants me? You know, I sent five emails. I'm gonna respond. Well, probably would have stopped after the second one, perhaps. And you know, let's see how well I send a video. And and I always tell kids and parents, well, make sure somebody that really knows what's going on looks at it before you send the video. Right. Because I've never accepted kids because of video, but they got my interest. It should be a tease, it should be an appetizer, it shouldn't be a video where you send us like coaches back, it's like, okay, next guy. You know, you don't want that. So be careful. But if there's no response, there's a school for everybody, there's no question. The last one, maybe to your point, and most important, is an emotional fit. You know, my son started shortstop and batted third since he was 10th grade in high school. Well, that's great. So did everybody else on this team. You know, 7% of high school kids play college sports. Baseball specific, 7% of 100 kids in a camp, theoretically, 70 years are gonna play in college. That's a that's a harsh number and a real number. It's a very real number. You know, so how am I gonna handle that when you know your son gets to a school and the team's pretty good, and he's 18-year-old, and he's a freshman, and there's a two-time All-American that's 21 or 22 years old playing shortstop ahead of him. You know, little your son knows, and he knows. I'll get my chance. And the more successful the program, the more difficult that may be to play right away. I always said I don't, I don't worry, a lineup card doesn't say date of birth. Nobody's asking for your birth certificate. Nobody. You know, it's it's name, position, number, and we go to work, we're all wearing the same uniform. But it becomes a little more difficult. But how are you gonna handle that on Monday when you go to the water caller and say, hey, how'd your son do this weekend? Well, you know, he didn't play, and you know, or he's gonna go out to you know, local uh diner or sports bar taking your son out to eat after the games, and you know, he didn't get a chance to play or whatever, and they're gonna he's gonna say all night and doesn't know what he's doing. You know, and your son's gonna nod an agreement because you're his parents, but deep down he knows that it's not his time yet, you know, and there's like two-time All American in front of him. And it's just the way that so if you treat them fairly, that's fine. Or is playing, I always ask kids how important is playing baseball gonna be to you? How important? And if it is, then we're gonna have to shuffle this deck. I think most of the kids answer yes. Then you got to find these other fits and find a place where if I'm not a player, you know, and like, oh my goodness, you know, I got kicked the coverage here. Now I'm a student. Do they have my major? Do I like the school? We can afford it, you know. Those are things that are so, so really important. So an emotional fit is more for mom and dad, the parents and the guardians, that you know, they can't handle, you know, they always, you know, travel the world, you're paying the plate or some expectation. You get into college sports, you know, most of these programs, the vast majority, you know, are trying to win and do the best they can. That's what the coaches get paid for in some manner, as we've just discussed. There's a lot more to it than what's between the lines. So emotionally, how can you handle that? How are you going to handle it? So you might find a school that doesn't win a whole lot, but your son started at short stuff and bat at third as a freshman. Is he going to be happy? Perhaps. Maybe, maybe not. But I think again, it's back to culture and expectations. You know, I there's just that expectation of winning and playing well. And, you know, I had one of my former coaches doing really well in his own right as an entrepreneur. He came into me. We used to play against him, and he came in and I interviewed for a assistant job. And he said, I'm so excited to be here. I always we always said when we're playing your team, we're playing the pro team today. I mean, we're playing, I said, What do you mean? He goes, No, just the way you guys looked, the way you traveled, the way you got off the bus, the way you went about your business, you know, the way you didn't react to this stupid stuff coming out of our dugout. You know, it's the pro team. And I'm like, wow, what a what a really nice compliment. But that became the culture, and the kids and the people that play on your team, they develop that culture and they sustain it and grow it. And the same holds true in anything, anything we do in the business world or anywhere else. It just it just happens that way. Culture is very big. And then the development kind of kind of helps on that. You know, there's so many things out there to teach X's and O's and doing things the right way. But you know, none of that matters if if if everybody's out there for themselves, and it just doesn't, you know, you look at it, so it just doesn't look right, it doesn't act right. And it may be uh some team killer's going on. Maybe you need a trash can on the uh on the chalkboard.

SPEAKER_01 40:49

Right, you're right. With that skip, I'm gonna turn it back over to Aaron. Segment four, which is the rapid fire round. Aaron, take it away.

SPEAKER_00 40:57

Okay, I'm gonna have you finish the sentence. I'm gonna start it and you're gonna finish it for me, okay?

SPEAKER_02 41:03

Oh boy, okay.

SPEAKER_00 41:05

Discipline equals.

SPEAKER_02 41:08

Discipline equals. I want to the first word popped in my mind was success. I I think it's stability. I don't know. There's a lot of things you could plug in there, but if you're not disciplined, I mean you're never going to be happy either. You're all over the place.

SPEAKER_00 41:25

Agreed.

SPEAKER_02 41:26

Leadership equals leadership equals making impact on others. You know, it's a it's an unselfish, you know, thing that you you elect to do. You want to impact other folks and not be selfish about it. That's why you're here to be a good servant.

SPEAKER_00 41:47

I love it.

SPEAKER_02 41:48

Legacy equals well legacy equals my book. No, no, I'm not just kidding. Legacy, legacy is really about how you've affected and impacted people over this time. Again, you know, on the tombstone man, he was a good guy. Yeah, I think that says it all. You've you've made that impact on other folks, and and they look back at you and yeah, I know, I know Tim Nyman. He's he's um he cast a large shadow. It's a good story too, by the way. So that's the title of my new book, I'll be coming on October 1st. And I wasn't quite sure what that meant. I'd asked my wife was saying, and she goes, Well, you've impacted a lot of folks. So cast a large shadow. And I think that is a legacy. You know, what what effect have I had on others in a good way? Maybe some bad here and there. I don't know. I think they become less as you grow.

SPEAKER_00 42:43

I love it. And what is one thing that you would never compromise on?

SPEAKER_02 42:49

Well, I think your morals and your ethics, your values, those are those are really you. I would never compromise on not laying up treasures. You know, I just the older I've gone, the more I realized how important that is. Yeah, I wouldn't, yeah, I I I think you start compromising, then you change who you are as a person individual. Doesn't mean you can't learn and you know, kind of chip off the rough edges here and there over the course of your lifetime, which I think I've done. But nobody's perfect, that's for sure. And just you know, be who you are. I mean, at the sales we say, be who you are who you are and be that well, from St. Francis to sales. And I think, yeah, be who you are and be that well. And I think that means a lot. And then all these other things we sculpt and you know, like the definition of the hitting I talked about earlier. We sculpt, man, maybe not so much. That's that's not me, you know, but you find something else, yeah. And so we are really an accumulation of people around us, aren't we? You know, the experiences we've had, the people we've met. But you need to be that pillar of yourself. The good Lord put you on this earth, you know, that. Way. And now it just kind of maybe needs a little, you know, updating here and there. But, you know, don't compromise on who you are.

SPEAKER_00 44:08

I love it. With that, I'm going to turn it back over to Thomas.

SPEAKER_01 44:12

Awesome. Thanks, Aaron. All right, Skipper, we're getting into our closing round. And what we'd like to do is offer an opportunity to our guests to kind of open the floor and just kind of tell us something that we haven't touched on. And that being said, do you feel like there's something that we didn't touch on today that coaches, players, or parents need to hear about building character through athletics and creating a lasting legacy?

SPEAKER_02 44:33

Yeah, I think I know we've covered a lot of ground for sure. You know, and I and I'm just being redundant on some of the things we did talk about. I think we've covered most of it, Tom, if not all of it. I'm sure once we're done here, a thousand things will pop into my mind. You know, it's interesting as the straight lines concept has developed over time in a short period of time. The amount of people that have reached out to me, and I'll give you an example, I'm going to be doing hosting a podcast this afternoon, recording one as a retired army colonel that served time in in Iraq and Afghanistan and negotiated with a Taliban. And, you know, I had a little call with him preliminary, and you know, people are they're just like everybody else. Everybody else wants to try to help somebody and don't ever think you're above it all. You don't be that guy. You know, you're not that guy or gal. You're not, you know, so I never think that. And there's a lot of folks out there, like people are, you know, I'm in the baseball business of broadcasting. People are, oh, you know, do you ever talk to this guy? This pro guy. Yeah, yeah, I have. Yeah, they put their pants on the same way I do in the morning when I get out of bed. I mean, come on, you know, it's just they're just people that really want to help and share stories and share their journey to success. And, you know, like the army colonel, and he puts me in touch with another army colonel, and you know, all of a sudden it's this big old network of connections that really have like minds. They really do. And the minority, it seems like the minority, but we're creating more leaders, you know, just create more leaders and then get out of the way. They always say, you know, surround yourself with good people, I think is an important aspect. So, you know, in coaching, you know, you get to learn. I'm not I like pitching and pretty good at it, but you know, become the okay hitting guy, you know, pretty good infield guy, you know, not a good catching guy. You learn a little bit about everything as a head coach, but I'm gonna hire guys that know specifically about those areas and stay out of their way. And I think that's important, you know, and anything you do is to get good people, surround yourself and let them do their thing. They'll need your guidance, they'll need your structure, they'll need the discipline, but let them do their thing. Don't be looking over their shoulder. I think that's a pretty important part of, you know, building your own legacy and and growing others, you know, to let them flourish or fail. And, you know, don't be so critical. Try to teach them and help them learn. They used to say on my players, you know, for every every one time I might have been a little firm, you know, which I've been known to do at times, you know, I would give you 10 pats on the back. Verbal bouquets, I call them. You know, now might be for every one time there might be 50 pat on the backs. You know, maybe that's the ratio these days. But that's okay. You know, people like the verbal bouquets. They need to know that somebody's watching, you know, but if they stumble, you know, they're gonna stumble. We all make mistakes. I still do. But, you know, you just kind of learn from it and move on. If you don't make mistakes, you've never learned a thing. So I think being able to embrace that process and letting people do their thing, surround yourself with really, really good people, you know, and then you know, success will come to you. You know, you're a be a blessing to others, and then it comes back to you. You know, you'll be blessed in return. And I think that's really important.

SPEAKER_01 48:16

Awesome. Final question, Skipper. Art imitating life. What are the top three sports movies in movies in Tim's life?

SPEAKER_02 48:25

Oh, I love movies too. So top three sports movies. Oh my goodness gracious. I would say uh feel the dreams. I mean, I cried once or two times. I I watched that. You know what else I like? We are marshall. Sure. I think that's a great movie. I really enjoyed that. Third one, uh, let's think about that for one second. I mean, I think of all the uh the baseball movies, you know, Bulldorum and that one. Uh you know what's funny to me, and I just sit and laugh and like a League of Their Own. There's a lot of a lot of truth to that. I mean, I've Cooperstown, I've seen the display. I really enjoy that movie too. So, but I think impactful-wise, you know, certainly, you know, Field of Dreams and We're a Marshall, I think, is very underrated. I think it's tremendously impactful. Matthew McConnell was the uh the lead actor. He was tremendous. So I guess I would go with that. Of course, we of course we're done with a scall, come up with 10 others, but no question.

SPEAKER_01 49:27

Well, Skipper, thank you for showing us that what uh sustain excellence and character development looks like over 36 years. Team, if this conversation hit you, do two things for us. One, share this episode with someone who needs to hear it. A coach building their program, a player learning about character and competition, and a parent choosing the right environment for their athlete. And two, check out Tim's books, What is Your Legacy and Team Killers? And listen to his straight line podcast. If you want to understand how to build a winning program while developing character, Tim's 36 years and 1,400 games of experience provide that blueprint. Speaking of that, if you're an athlete parent or coach ready to raise your standard, check out Aaron and myself at blueprintbluechip.com. We help athletes build identity, discipline, and legacy that goes well behind the game. And if this episode resonated with you, leave us a five-star review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It helps us reach more athletes, parents, and leaders who need to hear messages like Tim's. This is the standard podcast, and this is a movement that only grows when we raise the standard together. Talent fades, but truth endures. Let's raise the bar, rebuild the culture, and become the standard. Skipper, Aaron, thank you guys so much. Team, we'll see you next time.

SPEAKER_02 50:44

Thank you, Tom. Thank you, man.