Under The Gun: Taylor Sandefur

As an alum of Western Carolina University, Assistant Coach Taylor Sandefur is back as a Catamount for the 2019 season.  While a player at WCU, he performed both on the mound and at the plate. He has been coaching college baseball since 2015.   

Tell us what it’s like to be able to come back to your alma mater as a coach and what kind of benefits or even challenges that may go along with that.

Being able to come back and coach at my alma mater is a dream job for me. Who wouldn’t want to be able to coach the game that played and love at the school where they played? Western Carolina is a very special place to me. I got my first dog my redshirt senior year here. I met my wife here. The majority of the guys in my wedding were my teammates here. This has become home for me. One of the biggest benefits of me being able to come back to Western and coach is that it was the easiest transition I have ever made. I didn’t need to learn the campus, where the best places to eat are, what the housing options are, and all the ins and outs because I was here for five years. I was able to hit the ground running. Another big benefit to coming back to Western was that I know what fits in to our culture here and what kind of player really thrives as a catamount.

Take a minute to share where you’ve been thus far on your coaching journey and who have been some major influences.

When I finished playing at Western Carolina, I got my start coaching summer ball in the Valley League in Virginia. Erik Lemley was the head coach. He needed a pitching coach and all he could offer me was a place to stay and I jumped all over it. During that summer, I emailed or called every head coach in Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee trying to get my foot in the door. I was fortunate enough that Billy Jones at App State gave me my break. Billy Jones did an unbelievable job of preparing me to be a college baseball coach. He gave me freedom to coach guys and he gave me freedom to fail. You learn best from your failures. Looking back, Billy Jones did an unbelievable job of giving me freedom and watching me make rookie mistakes that were going to blow up in my face. He could of easily told me what to do but I wouldn’t have learned as much if I wasn’t thrown into the fire.

           When I left App State, I went to St. Andrews University as the pitching coach. St. Andrews is a NAIA school in Laurinburg, NC. During my time at St. Andrews, I wore a lot of different hats. I was the pitching coach for a varsity and jv pitching staff, strength and conditioning coach, I had to work on the field, cut the grass, make sure the laundry was getting washed, recruit, schedule games for a varsity and jv, and much more. At smaller schools, you don’t have the support staff that you do at the division 1 level so it was really good for me to experience that. It made me appreciate all the help that we had as a player at Western and as a young coach at App State.

           After a year at St. Andrews, I was hired as the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator at Erskine College. Erskine is a division 2 school in Due West, SC. At Erskine, it was my first time being a recruiting coordinator and it really taught me a lot about what really goes into being a recruiting coordinator. It’s not just signing players but it is having class balance, making sure guys are the right fit for the program, and the enormous amounts of paper work that go with signing a kid to come play college baseball.

           As I mentioned before, Billy Jones has been a huge influence in my coaching career. The other biggest influence in my coaching career has been my current boss, Bobby Moranda. I will never forget what he told me in the first conversation we had after I was hired at App State. I was asking him for coaching advice before the fall started and he asked me if I wanted to be a good coach. Naturally, I said yes. He responded with a very simple response, “recruit good players”. That has resonated with me since that day. It sound simple but if you recruit good players who want to learn, are willing to change, and are a right fit for the culture, it makes our job a lot easier. Lastly, Alan Beck, assistant coach at Georgia Southern, has been a big influence in my career. He coached me when I was here at Western and still is coaching me up now that I am coaching. Anytime I have a question, I know I can call him and he will direct me by telling me what he did, if it worked or not, and if I didn’t, what he would have done differently. He has been a great resource in helping me learn how to handle a lot of different situations that I have encountered over the years.

You were successful at WCU as both a pitcher and a hitter.  How are you able to use those experiences to aid the players you are now coaching?

The guys are really able to relate to me and trust what I am telling them to do because I did what they are trying to do. I can tell them about the struggles that I had and the successes that I had and it really resonates with them since I did it here at Western. We are cut from the same cloth.

Whether game days or practice, the spring is a busy time for both coaches and players in college baseball.  What does a typical day look like for you while in season?

I start every day out by getting a workout in. I have to get up and get my body moving first thing. After that, I come up to the office, check my email, and make sure I have everything ready for either a game or practice. Then I take a minimum of 30 minutes to find something to read that will help me be a better coach. It could be anything from an article posted by Driveline, an article about a pitching staff that is having a lot of success, or a book about a successful coach. I am always trying to learn. After that, I start making recruiting calls. I make sure that I call high school coaches and check in with them on how their seasons are going and to see if they have seen any players that are popping up. Then I call summer coaches and check in with those guys. I make a point to stay in touch with people and build good relationships with people who make my job easier. After lunch, I make sure I take care of any office duties that need to be done before we head out for practice or a game. I am a very routine based person so my days are pretty much the same every single day.

For those interested in playing the game at a next level, what are some priorities that need to be considered by student-athletes as they transition from youth sports into high school athletics?

The biggest decision that a kid has to make is do they really want to play at the next level or not. It is a hard question to answer. Are you willing to sacrifice your social life to be the best you can be and play at the next level? Not a lot of people are. Are you willing to make school, baseball and family the three main priorities in your life? Are you willing to miss homecoming or prom for this game? Are you willing to miss birthdays and holidays? How bad do you really want to do this? If you can answer those questions honestly, the rest will fall in line.

We at Dirtbags Baseball are so appreciative of the time Coach Sandefur has spent with us today.  We will be tracking the Catamounts as they push to the finish of the 2019 campaign.