In this interview, Andrew Wilde, head coach of the Salt Lake City Tigers, delves into the organization's approach to baseball coaching, emphasizing player development over immediate wins. The discussion highlights several key areas: Player Development vs. Winning: Wilde stresses the importance of balancing player growth with competitive success. The organization focuses on building athleticism, power, and aggressiveness at the bat, prioritizing long-term player potential over short-term victories.

Buy-In and Routine: A significant part of the conversation revolves around increasing player and parental buy-in through structured training routines. High school players have shown success with this approach, but there's a push to extend this commitment to younger demographics.

Offseason Challenges: Winter training in Utah presents unique challenges, particularly with arm care. The organization is working on providing better access to facilities and encouraging continuous, albeit modified, arm movement to prevent injuries without taking long breaks.

Training Methods: Specific techniques like using overload and underload bats for increasing bat speed, long toss exercises in confined spaces, and situational baseball IQ are discussed. The importance of differentiating between injury and soreness is also highlighted with strategies to manage the latter.

Organizational Growth: There's an expressed desire for more baseball complexes in Utah and the potential for private equity investment in expanding facilities to the Midwest and East Coast. The conversation also touches on the need to enhance the program's social media presence and recruit dedicated instructors.

Coaching Philosophy and Challenges: Wilde shares the coaching philosophy of continuous learning, the need for a better balance between development and winning games, and the organizational structure's challenges, including coach buy-in and managing the program's operations single-handedly.

Action Items: The interview concludes with a list of actionable steps, from expanding training facilities, focusing on arm care, increasing player engagement, to exploring new competitive opportunities and enhancing the coaching staff's alignment with the program's vision.

This interview not only provides insights into the operational and strategic side of running a baseball program but also offers practical advice for coaches, players, and parents involved in youth and high school baseball development.