In January of this year, Fire Ants Head Coach Tom Fleenor (right) took on the task of building a brand new program at USC Sumter. No stranger to building programs, Fleenor spent the last seven years taking USC Upstate from a perennial cellar dweller in the Peach Belt Conference to three straight 30 plus win seasons as the school’s recruiting coordinator. His classes included two Peach Belt Freshmen of the Year, an All-American, a Peach Belt batting champion and three players that signed professional contracts. One of those players is currently in Double-A with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. All told, Fleenor has coached over 50 players that have gone on to professional careers. DP-How many years have you been in coaching? What got you into the business? I have been coaching for fourteen years. The main reason I coach is because I don’t want a real job! I realized my senior year in college that I could not imagine myself doing anything else, but baseball. DP-What is the most rewarding thing about being a baseball coach? Making a difference in a kid’s life. I truly love that part of my job. It does not even have to be something baseball related. If I can somehow get, or keep, a kid pointed in the right direction in life, that makes my job totally worth it. DP-What does the term “coach” mean to you? Mentor, father figure and even a friend. Some coaches do not think you can be all three, but I emphatically believe you can as long as you can decipher which situation requires what role. DP-What is something you wish everyone knew about your profession? That it’s not as glamorous as some would think. Most coaches don’t make much money and they spend a lot of time away from their families. I’m lucky enough to have a wife that has stuck by me through thick and thin, but a lot coaches are not so fortunate. DP-We all know there is very little money in coaching at the college level yet the time involved is mind-boggling, why do you do it? It’s kind of like finding the right woman. You don’t really know why it is that you can’t be without her, even though she might drive you crazy sometimes, but you keep coming back. A person just knows that it’s what God intended for them to do. DP-You are highly regarded as a recruiter in the profession, what makes you good at what you do? I just try to be myself and it seems to work. I am basically just a kid at heart and I am passionate about what I do. The kids tend to pick up on it. They are smarter than we sometimes give them credit for when it comes to judging a person. I truly enjoy coaching the kids and I think it shows in the way I recruit them as well. DP-When you hear the expression “old school baseball”, what does that phrase mean to you? No batting gloves, playing the short game, hustling at all times and simply playing the game the way it was meant to be played. The “old school” game was not the gorilla ball that kids see on Sportscenter every night. Today’s game is all about who can throw 90 and who can hit the ball into the trees. The object of the game is to score more than the other team and putting the team ahead of your own individual goals, plain and simple. DP-What is the definition of a “student-athlete”? There is a commercial for the NCAA that says it all: Most of them will be going professional in something other than sports. A college education provides an individual the opportunity to have a good life. I tell almost every recruit I talk to that college is about the next 50 years, not the next four. Let’s look at it this way–there is a reason why they are not referred to as “athlete-student”. The “student” must always come first. I bet you didn’t know I could be that deep! DP-What MLB feat in history do you wish you’d been inside the stadium to witness and why? Hank Aaron breaking the homerun record at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. I think Aaron is a great human being that took a lot of flack in his day as he approached the record just because he was black. You have to be a class act to not respond to racist idiots. DP-What is your most memorable experience as a baseball coach? Watching my 17 month-old, Bradley, throw out the first pitch at one of my Northwoods League games back in 2001. He stood about six feet away from home plate and threw a perfect strike to his daddy with 1000 people in the stands. DP-Who has made the greatest impression on you as a baseball coach and why? Mike Policastro (currently the head coach at Cleveland State Community College), my college coach and Phil King, my best friend’s father. Coach Poly was a so-called players’ coach, but he had a real New Jersey/Italian mean streak as well. He was a great guy to play for and he remains a good friend to this day. I think I got most of my coaching style from him as far as how I deal with the players. Phil King was not my baseball coach, but he was more of my life coach. He was a tremendous player in his day (football and baseball at Furman) and an even better man. I am changing my number this year to 23 (Mr. King’s high school number at Clinton) in memory of him. DP-Who are the best three players you have ever coached against? It’s hard to name just three as I coached against the best of the best when I was at Ole Miss. The ones that stick out are David Eckstein (Florida), Brad …
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