Don’t Call Me Coach

A Proactive Coaching podcast interview with Jeremy "Sheets" Sheetinger, head baseball coach at Georgia Gwinnett College and former assistant executive director of the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA), hosted by Bruce Brown as part of the "Best Coaches You've Never Heard Of" series. Topics covered: his path from Frankfort, Kentucky through unpaid and near-unpaid coaching jobs (Georgetown College, a metal factory by morning, the University of Kentucky in the SEC) to the ABCA and back into coaching; three career turning points, including the sacrifice that cost him a marriage and the decision to leave coaching when his first child was on the way; what he learned from elite coaches — dying to ego daily, telling players he loves them, "hero, highlight, hardship" Fridays; being a teacher above all ("call me Sheets, not Coach"); the coaches who altered his life (Little League coach Bud Ritchie, his high school coaches, and Alan Cox, who's moving from Canada to join his staff); the 2008 Kentucky team and senior leadership; his vision for culture (trust and love, training a tick above World Series speed, attention-span-aware practice design, stepping into failure rather than retreating to safety); the daily 1:30 classroom — coaching the person, then the student, then the player; letting leaders emerge and redefining vocal leadership; and book recommendations (Grit, Help the Helper, Emotional Intelligence 2.0, Linchpin).