Brian Reinke Joins ‘From Phenom To The Farm’: Episode 95

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The physical adjustment for freshmen in college baseball is a difficult one. Competing from day one against experienced college players—sometimes four to five years older, with hundreds of games under their belts—is challenging.

Just as tough, if not tougher, is the mental adjustment to the day in, day out grind college baseball brings, and without a solid base of mental skills and a capable attitude, a freshman could find himself mentally over his head sooner rather than later.

Nearly three decades into his career coaching college baseball, it doesn’t take Brian Reinke long to know it when he sees it.

“It depends on which aspect we’re talking about—mentally playing, mentally in the classroom, mentally lifting weights four days a week—I believe all of this taxes their mental toughness in an incredible amount early,” said Reinke. “The guys that aren’t mentally ready for this will continue to falter and fall farther and farther behind.”

Coach Reinke joined our ‘From Phenom to the Farm’ series on sports parenting to talk about best practices for parents in the upper levels of baseball. Athletes competing in high school or college baseball take on more personal responsibility than those at the younger youth levels, but parents still make a huge impact on the skills and attitude necessary to succeed even when leaving the house for college. Lessons learned while still under a parent’s roof in high school can set up a player for being able to handle things on their own once stepping foot on campus.

“They need to be held accountable,” said Reinke. “One of the biggest things we tell our guys is, from day one that you step on campus, you’re being graded on everything. You’re being graded on going to class (…), getting your stuff turned in, getting your grade checks done, following directions. Those guys that do all those things are the guys who end up being mentally capable of handling a 56-game regular season in the spring.”

Having coached hundreds of players over his career, Reinke is now learning the other side of the coin. His son Lincoln is a sophomore baseball player at Midland High School (TX) with collegiate aspirations of his own. While he’s spent time coaching Lincoln, he’s also spent time in the stands, just being a normal parent, which has allowed him to pass on valuable lessons in the right way for youth baseball players to deal with the player/coach relationship.

“My recommendation to my son was, if he was ever on a team where he wasn’t playing the position he thought he should play in his mind—you need to go talk to the coach,” said Reinke. “I am not your coach, I’m not there at every practice, I don’t know what goes on every day—you need to go talk to him, and be respectful, and go, ‘What do I need to do to play more, what do I need to do to beat this guy out, is there something I’m doing wrong in practice?’ I think they can do that from a very young age.”

It’s tough for any parent when their child leaves the nest, especially if that parent has been extremely involved in their athletic career. When it comes to the next level, and a parent’s relationship with their college athlete and that athlete’s coach, Reinke keeps it pretty simple.

“I want your parents to support you, I want them to love you,” said Reinke. “If you’ve signed the right paperwork and I can talk to them about your academics and make sure you’re going to class; happy to have that conversation. If they want to call and ask why you’re not playing, we’re not going to have that conversation.”

On the latest episode of ‘From Phenom to the Farm,’ Galveston College head coach Brian Reinke joins to share his thoughts on sports parenting at the upper levels. He also talks about the mental preparedness needed to succeed in college, the dos and don’ts for parents during recruiting and how a parent’s behavior can reflect on their child when it comes to collegiate evaluations.