Andrew Shebloski
Willamette University, Salem, Oregon
Offical Bio
Hometown: San Diego
Education: Saint Mary’s (California); Academy of Art
Twitter: @CoachShebbs
The moment you first realized that you might like to make coaching a part of your career.
Once my career ended I remember talking to my head coach at Academy of Art, and he expressed how he wanted me to become a GA next year and I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life post playing career, and that conversation really opened my eyes. During my time at Saint Mary’s (CA) it was kind of in the back of my mind kind of like, “Oh coaching would be cool one day” but that was more of just a general thought, not thinking I would actually have a career out of it.
Outside of mentors, talk about one or more ways you’ve learned some aspect of coaching.
Getting yourself out there! I knew once I got into coaching that I wanted to be a hitting coach and I got that opportunity this past summer ‘22 as the hitting coach for the Menlo Park Legends in the Bay Area Collegiate League. Not only having some very high end talent on the roster, but as well as some up and coming guys, we were a very good offensive team and the offense trusted me with their development and to help them get the best chance to win and for a lot of those guys it gave them a huge confidence boost going back to their respective schools in the fall and it gave me confidence as a hitting coach when I was looking for my next coaching opportunity.
Tony Wolfe talks about Goals vs Purpose. Kevin Wilson calls it your “why.” What is your purpose or “why” in coaching?
Seeing kids succeed and never giving up. Baseball is the hardest game in the world. You fail 7 out of 10 times and you are considered great. Not only that, but the life lessons this game teaches you. Nothing satisfies me more as a coach than seeing a player you have been spending so much extra time with outside of practice and the game and seeing them improve and the success they are getting. It is truly unmatched.
If you could go back to your rookie coach self and give one piece of advice, what would it be?
Patience. Things aren’t going to change overnight, or from at bat to at bat, or inning by inning. It’s a process, whether it is a player struggling or the whole team. Have patience and faith and things will work out in your favor. I promise!
One new thing I want to accomplish this year.
Hopefully win the conference title this year, but for my personal coaching career I really want to expand my coaching network and really be involved in recruiting. Since this is only my second year coaching, I feel like I do not know a lot of coaches and I want to learn from more coaches around me and help me be a better coach. I also want to help develop a recruiting class. I came in at the end of the summer so the class was already done, so I want to help develop our next class and future classes.
Best career or work advice you ever received.
Meet as many people as possible and treat everyone that has ever crossed your path with respect. You never know who wants you as a coach and its a small world and if you are well respected in this industry, you are going to be successful.
Your dream lunch date. One coach. Any sport. Any level. Living or dead. Who is it?
Tim Corbin — and I say that because my freshman year at Saint Mary’s we played at Vanderbilt and I got my first career start and Kyle Wright was pitching for them and I look over and I see the way he leads his team and the history he has at Vandy which is a college baseball powerhouse. I would love to sit down and pick his brain and try to get as much knowledge as I can during a lunch date.
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