BEST HS Baseball Coach in UV?

Another post gave me the idea for this...Who is the best HS Baseball Coach in Utah Valley and why? I want to hear a lot of answers...don't be afraid to say.

How does one judge this? Success certainly seems like a strong reason...if so Spanish Fork and Timpanogos seem to always be on the top of the heap...others like American Fork and Provo seem to bounce up and down like a yo-yo...even in the same season. What are the factors that make for a successful coach. Springville's coach was in the middle of a tornado last year and this year...nothing as far as turmoil...why? Has he changed or did he get rid of a bad element or two somehow? Lone Peak won Region 4 with their soccer coach this year...how's that? There must be something to being able to communicate with kids and positively bring out their best potential. According to Zuke's stats, they had 5 kids bat over .450! WOW! Who's the hitting coach over there?

Also funny to me that people bash the Baseball Academy but the teams that support them more with offseason participation seem to have more success year in and year out. Also interesting the civic support some teams get compared to others. Must be something there.

What an interesting topic and even though I've known some of the coaches for 10 to 18 years, I can't give you an answer.
Are you asking who gets the most out of the talent he has?
If so, I would say American Fork's Jared Ingersoll.
Is it who consistantly runs the best program? Then I would say Kim Nelson or Jim Nelson.
Who wins the most? Who is the best teacher/game manager? Who has taken over a bad program and made it good?
There are so many factors to consider.
In my opinion the person who has gotten the most out of his team this year has been Lone Peak coach Mike LaHargoue. As a first year coach to take this team and win the region with only a few senior is the story of the year.
But remember. It can all fall apart quickly. In the NBA, you can be coach of the year one year and fired the next.
Zuke

Neil, those are all great questions and having seen as many games with all the different coaches as you have, yours is probably a very informed opinion.

Lone Peak's coach is the obvious choice this year with his team coming from nowhere to win Region 4.

Let's put the question this way...year in, year out...who would you want to coach your sons and grandsons? Who, through baseball, will prepare them for life? That should clarify it.

Who is the BEST coach in Utah Valley? Funny I see that there have been about 80 people looking at this and noone will answer! Courage, brethren! Share your opinions.

In that case, the way you explained the question, I would go with Provo's Lance Moore.

What a great mind he has for baseball. I would want him to be the man instilling his knowledge in my future sons' minds.

PUtah- I know that to post you have to register and some people are reluctant to post. I have talked to several people who read these posts but won't post.
That's okay, but I agree. If you have some insight do share.
I only see certain sides of coaches so I don't really feel qualified make a definitive statement, but let me share a few things.
Today I was talking with Orem coach Gary Miner, who was trying to decide what pitcher to start. He asked one of the pitchers who they would feel to come out of the bullpen as opposed to starting. He wondering if he wouldn't perform as well if he didn't start.
I like to see communication. Let players know what you're thinking and where they stand. I think a lot of times, players don't play, don't start, get pinched hit for, skipped a start, pulled from a game and nothing is said.
This isn't the big leagues. These kids need to know what the coach is thinking.
Someone mentioned Mike LaHargoue as a top coach. I know he took some heat for senior cuts, and I can appreciate the pain those seniors and their parents have felt. Someday I'll write a column on my experience as a parent of a boy in a baseball program.
I have known Mike for about 20 years. I've played baseball and softball with him and he is a good man, who has an even temperament and one that I think your son would benefit having gone through his program.
But I think for me to say, I would have to have a son go through the program to really tell.
Zuke

Zuke,

Thanks for the response...I'll get back to it in a bit...

baseballslife...thanks for the only other response I've gotten...as I ask around I can't find one person from that program to support your opinion that has gone through it recently...it looks much rosier from the outside is what I've heard. I'm not an insider by any means, just what I've heard. Not to place all the blame for that on the coach, I've also seen the sad state of baseball fields/facilities in Provo at all ages and that's a pretty strong indicator of the lack of community support and pride. I work in a place with parents from almost every high school in the valley and have had conversations with many of them trying to answer this very question from my original post.

back to Zuke's comments...communication...that's very important...but I've seen too many coaches where this is only a one-way street and kind of a dictatorship my way or the highway approach. It's good to hear this working out there for coach Miner and coach L at Lone Peak. Obviously, the success they had this year proved so. One question though about your story...shouldn't the coach have a pretty strong suspicion how a kid's gonna feel about coming out of the bullpen after twenty-something games (plus summer league, last season, etc.)? You said "I think a lot of times, players don't play, don't start, get pinched hit for, skipped a start, pulled from a game and nothing is said." This is very true but I've also seen where four different kids think they're starting a game today because the coach sends so many mixed signals instead of clarifying what role a kid needs to play on a team. Quite the teeter-totter a coach has to ride with a bunch of hormone driven teenagers but too often I've seen coaches coach "in the past" instead of forward. Do they really think the kid doesn't know he swung at a bad pitch or made a bad throw? Another thing I would look for is team discipline and rules...kids should always know where they stand depending upon their behavior. When one kid is allowed to break the rules and another is punished for the same offense it really creates a lot of disharmony. You mentioned that Coach L out at Lone Peak "took some heat for senior cuts, and I can appreciate the pain those seniors and their parents have felt." Life is tough. I believe one of the reasons that team was successful is because of those cuts. The coach kept the best talent and put the team first, not the best fundraiser's son or whoever sold the most banners (I don't know anyone on the team, but I've seen these exact things happen on other teams). I know some parents out in Spanish Fork whose kids knew they would be cut if they wouldn't start as seniors because that's the "winning" tradition of the program. They ended up playing golf and working. A microcosm of life I think. Seniors that don't play most often tear the team down complaining and those that do play but don't deserve to hold the team back from it's best potential. Sorry, didn't mean to be this long. Maybe now someone will respond. GOOD LUCK to all the UV kids in the playoffs tomorrow...I hope they shutout every SL Valley team.

This is a tough one. There simply is no perfect coach. Each has something malcontents can gripe about. Moore is too animated, Shoe doesn't win enough with his loaded teams and community backing, Miner is a dictator, Cooper's assistants prop him up, and on and on and on. These are things you'll hear from parents and players, among many others about all coaches, not just these.

Basically, what I am trying to say is that if your son doesn't play, team doesn't win you can always pick something out. I even have heard kids and parents gripe about playing for Craig Drury, didn't they just win two in a row and about 5 others under him?

Coaching is a thankless, time consuming, strenuous job. There is NO money at this level as we all know either, and you can NEVER make everyone happy. I think each person that sacrifices family time, money, effort and many other things is worthy of gratitude from players and parents. Many times coaches at this level are not the best at X's and O's, most are in the classroom all day teaching economics or something, then have to care for the field, organize 3 or 4 teams and hope that there are enough good baseball guys crazy enough to volunteer to help them coach.

All this being said, Shoe has really built a great program in SF. Moore does a great job with not much in Provo. Cooper always puts a good squad on the field and Miner has competed at the top since he came along.

However, I think Kim Nelson has to be up at the top of the list for coaches in the Valley. Haven't had a kid there, but he seems to do a great job each year and is a baseball guy. Disappointing year this year, but it aint over!

Good Luck to all today!

I only see certain sides of coaches so I don't really feel qualified make a definitive statement, but let me share a few things.
Today I was talking with Orem coach Gary Miner, who was trying to decide what pitcher to start. He asked one of the pitchers who they would feel to come out of the bullpen as opposed to starting. He wondering if he wouldn't perform as well if he didn't start.
I like to see communication. Let players know what you're thinking and where they stand. I think a lot of times, players don't play, don't start, get pinched hit for, skipped a start, pulled from a game and nothing is said.
This isn't the big leagues. These kids need to know what the coach is thinking.

Coach Miner is NOT the great communicator and his game strategy is questionable at best. He recently benched his starting ss at game time (after 66 straight games started) because he wasn't hitting well enough - he was only hitting .351. This brutal approach does not instill confidence or get the best out of his players; especially when that player is key to the success of your team. I'm still looking for a coach that I can comfortably have my kids play for. Any suggestions, please let me know before it's too late.

Yeah ... I saw that. I thought that was one of most classless moves I've ever seen; you bench your 3 year starting ss on senior day on the last home game of the season. Not only does it hurt you offensively, but kills you defensively. Miner is getting no Coach of the Year votes from this side of center street.

I'm looking at the selections of ALL-REGION some of you are posting for region 4 although those choices are good ones, how can one concluded that only 2 players from some of the better teams get put on the first teams. I noticed 1 person had the MVP not even from the region champ (how can that be) with as many good players that LP had this year. Hanks had a great year, if his team would have won the region he probably would have been the MVP. With the coaching debate there are so many good coaches in the valley and most have different strenghts and weaknesses. I would love to have a son play for almost all the coaches that are in UV.