Rob Childress

Nebraska wouldn't let him throw live as a freshman just for injury risk to the batters and these things.

And That was a Rob Childress reclamation project where he was able to help him with the mechanics, help him with the mentality that goes into being a pitcher and trusting your stuff and throwing with conviction and throwing strikes and all these different things.

I think pitchers take note of that.

When I talk to these guys as pitchers, they almost always mention having the chance to work with Childress, who obviously has a strong reputation for 20-plus years.

I don't think Texas A&M was very good this year.

In fact, I think this might have been the year that they fired Rob Childress.

Arkansas wins 13-0 in Game 1.

They win via walk-off 2-1 in Game 2 and then lose a crazy 11-10 game.

So, um, he, he had an innate way of getting those players to be confident, um, I've been really blessed to build connections through the game.

You know, Rob Childress is the pitching coach at Nebraska and, you know, he's, he's one of the best coaches that I've ever met.

The way that he connects with and relates to people and the players is so impressive.

I remember he met my wife one time and then met her again, like three years later and remembered her name and remembered what she did for a career.

We were playing Arkansas at the time.

Rob Childress was a manager playing Van Horn, who's obviously a legend in the SEC now.

But we really wanted to beat them.

So our starter, who was also a freshman at the time, went like two innings.

Um, yeah, you, you went through, I guess it was like a two-week kind of tryout period where we're playing games, and then they officially tell you, and they announce the roster whenever we would go over to Amsterdam and to Cuba.

Um, but yeah, it was, it was definitely [static] uh, luckily my pitching coach or the head coach at A&M, Rob Childress, was the pitching coach for Team USA that year.

So I'm sure, um, him having me was definitely, um, a little bit of a, an opportunity for me.

But he, he told me, you know, "We're-- I'm not gonna pick you unless you deserve it." So it was definitely an awesome opportunity for me and, um...