Conversations with College Coaches: Eastern Illinois University
Check out the newest interview with Skylar Meade, current top Assistant Coach, Pitching Coach and Recruiting Coordinator at Eastern Illinois University (EIU). Meade is a former pitcher at the University of Louisville where he helped lead the Cardinals to the program’s first birth in the College World Series as a senior in 2007. Recently, Woody Wingfield went one-on-one with Meade to learn more about the Eastern Illinois baseball program.
Check out our list of College Alumni and see what alumni played last year at Eastern Illinois and other Division I programs.
1. How long have you been coaching? How long at Eastern Illinois?
This is was my first job out of college and I have been coaching at Eastern Illinois for four seasons now.
2. Who are some of your mentors or coaches that you look up to?
Coach [Dan] McDonnell and Coach [Roger] Williams are my 2 biggest mentors in terms of coaches. They coached me my senior year at the University of Louisville. The way they handle themselves during contests and in their daily interactions with players is incredible. I strive to be as successful as them down the road.
3. What is the first thing about your school and program that you’d want a recruit to know about?
We truly care about our players and in my four years at EIU I have not met a person, athlete or general student who did not enjoy their time at EIU athletically, academically, and socially.
4. What do you look for in a prospective recruit for your team?
We look for guys who are going to develop in our system. Over the past few years we have developed five Top 15 round picks and one 1st rounder here; none who were drafted out of high school. We attribute that to our focus on development both on the baseball field and in the weight room.
5. What qualities do you look for in a prospect off the field?
I personally like guys who are driven individuals. At the same time I like guys who seem to be respected highly by their teammates. Those are the kind of guys who in time not only are great players but also great leaders within a unit.
6. Do you recruit from Junior Colleges?
Yes we do. We won’t bring in a whole class of JC guys, but I think bringing in a couple to fill specific spots is important for a program to continue success year in and year out.
7. How does video footage fit into recruiting?
Video is a great way to give you a visual on a players skill set and body type. We almost never sign a recruit based solely on video, but we would certainly go and see a player who impressed on a video that was sent to us. Video is also a primary organizing source we use to decide which of the players on our list we will go and see first during recruiting seasons.
8. Can you break down your fall practice schedule? What do you try to accomplish?
In the fall we try to make the first two weeks very organized in terms of implementing our system and style to the new and returning players alike. The latter portion of our fall season we base our schedule around scrimmages and competition. We want to know or at least have a good idea of what our team, starting lineup, and rotation is going to look like in the spring. We feel the best way to make those decisions is to evaluate our guys in game-like situations.
9. Do you have a strength and conditioning coach?
Yes we do. We have a new coach this season named Chris Neville. He is young and energetic and has done a phenomenal job in getting the guys to up their effort level in the weight room. Chris is a fantastic asset because he puts in so much extra time with our guys. He works around the schedule of the players, and individually helps out with players dealing with sore bodies and the aches and pains that come along with a 56 game schedule.
10. What is your favorite away game/series/ballpark?
Southern Mississippi. I played there many times in college and this season we opened our year with three games against them. They always have a good team and the atmosphere is outstanding. To me, its one of the best in college baseball.
11. Can you describe your facilities at Eastern Illinois?
We have a great setup for the field. Coaches Stadium is a 600 chair back seat facility that is probably the best place in the Ohio Valley Conference to watch a game. Our indoor facility, Lantz Fieldhouse, is a football sized venue that we are able to practice in at any time with no restrictions in terms of what we can do. We are able to set up full-field defensive drills inside, and hit in open areas where players can see exactly how the ball travels off the bat during times when a lot of other teams in the region have to be content with simply hitting in the cages. The artificial turf football field is directly adjacent to the fieldhouse, which allows us to get outside and practice during stints of warm weather in the winter months.
12. What do you think of the new BBCOR bats?
I think that they are good for the game overall. It definitely forces an adjustment to the overall playing style and strategy, but in time I think that hitters will acclimate themselves to having a smaller sweet spot on the barrel.
