My first inspiration was at an early age when I wanted to be a catcher like Johnny Bench. He was the best and I wanted to be the best.

My brother (Mike) and I would play whiffle ball outside our house all the time and we were quite competitive. We had some great times playing those games. This is where my competitive nature started. We played sports all the time and usually on the same teams (football, basketball, and baseball). That is what kept me on the straight and narrow, when others around me were drifting away from sports.

My parents were always supportive in all of my activities. They came to all of our games and my father coached me in most of my younger sports (Little League, Pop Warner football, Goldenball basketball

I received a great statement from one of my coaches in high school, which was; set a goal up high and try to do the things that will keep you moving toward that goal. (I believe that was Jerry Lyons) Discount those that will lead you away from your goal. That is one of the ideas I tried to get across to my players when I was coaching. Along with giving kids the proper fundamentals to play and improve their game.

One thing that I tried to tell my kids is to be the best you can be, which included good practice habits, fundamentals, respect for others, and becoming a good teammate. I tried to emphasize that success is not always going to be measured by wins and losses, but if you did all that you could do for yourself and your teammates, you can hold your head up high.

The person who got me started into coaching was Mike Clopton, as I started coaching in Babe Ruth baseball. George and JeanAnne Cheshire were the people responsible for getting me my teaching and coaching jobs at Lincoln High School.