Inside the mind of COD baseball head coach Sam DiMatteo
Sam DiMatteo, the head baseball coach of College of the Desert, has changed the program with 25 All-conference players through three seasons. However, his philosophy is to keep every player comfortable in any situation.
"When we bring our players in, is number one is just let them come in here and let them be themselves to start," DiMatteo said. "As time goes, we try to help them become better players, better people, but, you know, we like to take a step back and let them be comfortable and play their game, but at the same time, you know, keeping everybody in order, making sure everyone's working hard and doing their part. "
Being at the helm for three years, DiMatteo is more of a mentor to each player than a coach.
"Yeah, I'd say he's a player's coach for sure, like he really coaches that specifically," Sophomore Nic Ely shortstop said. "It's not like he's coaching anything like set in stone. It's like he really gets what the player needs and coaches them through that."
DiMatteo's player's first mindset comes from his past experiences playing in college and the MLB.
"Just being able to relate to these guys because I feel like I was similar to all these guys, just full of talent and just need some coaching and need some guidance and things like that," DiMatteo said. "So I think a lot of the golden information at this level is guys like myself and Reed and Casey, who have been through the wringer with the game of baseball at a high level and then being able to come back down to this level and teach it to these guys through our own experiences."
As DiMatteo sent 25 players to four-year schools last year, his process of sending players to the next level is getting them ready to start from when they first arrive at COD.
"It is a process when they come here, you know, we're doing 6 a.m. weights, and we're with each other every day," DiMatteo said. "It's kind of like a little family, and you're just grooming them for the next steps, whether that's baseball or life in general."
