Frank Leoni

It was the summer after my junior year when I got a phone call from Frank Leoni that I'll never forget. A few months later, I accepted a scholarship and signed my National Letter of Intent to URI.

In 2005, we made program history, winning URI's first A-10 championship, and traveled to California for the NCAA Regional, where we squared off against Troy Tulowitzki and Evan Longoria of Long Beach State — memories that last a lifetime.

We'd started that season 2-9 and finished 34-21, on top of the conference. That team taught me everything about taking a punch and refusing to go down, a lesson Frank had been teaching me since the day I stepped on campus.

More than thirty years into a coaching career built on doing more with less, Frank is still the same coach who saw something in an overlooked kid and bet on it. This conversation is part baseball wisdom, part recruiting reality, and part a coach handing down everything he's learned about building men, not just players.

I'm grateful to call him a coach, a mentor, and a friend.

Playing Career

Head Coach

Championships

Coach of the Year

Hall of Fame

Here’s our conversation.

What does 30 years of building winners with fewer resources than the programs you compete against teach you about developing young players?

I think what our programs have been able to do is identify the type of players that fit our culture. Sure, we're looking for talented baseball players, but it goes beyond that. We're looking for players committed to being great — tough, resilient, smart, coachable, and wanting to truly be part of something greater than themselves. Every team at the DI level has talented players. What separates teams is the dedication, reliability, determination, and cohesiveness of its players and coaches.

How do we assess these qualities? We watch everything a player does. We watch parents, too. We try to get a sense of who the person will be when he's here, and we lean heavily on those who know the player best — his coaches, his teachers.

As for development, I believe we have a responsibility to every player to assess his skill set and how we can enhance it. We're trying to develop him not only as a player, but as a person. We believe strongly in a servant leadership mindset — once players get on board with that, it's easier to install the X's and O's. Our goal is to win every game we play and develop better men for our society.

We'd all like more resources, but it's what you do with the resources you're given that matters. What I've always felt is that it's the coach's job to remove obstacles from his players' way.

We won the 2005 Atlantic 10 championship together, the first in URI history. What do you remember about that group?

That team was special. We had a great team in 2004, too — a two-year run with guys who were all in. The talent was incredible. Just the starting rotation alone: Dan Frederick, Zach Zuercher, and Steve Holmes — two of those three were top-9-round MLB draft picks. We went 38-10 in conference play, won consecutive regular season championships, and reached the A-10 finals two years in a row. If not for my coaching blunder in 2004, I firmly believe we would've won back-to-back championships.

Many of those guys, if not all, would have run through a wall to win a game and a championship. The leadership was off the charts — guys like Matt Sullivan, Mike Rainville, Wayne Russo, Mick Lefort, Jad Prachniak, Dan Batz, and Dan Frederick made sure everyone stayed accountable.

What really separated those teams, especially in 2005, is that we could take a punch and respond to anyone. We never quit. We started that season 2-9 and finished 34-21. The coaches didn't have to say much — the players led the way. The old saying in coaching is: bad teams, no one leads; average teams, the coaches lead; on great teams, the players lead. That was the 2005 URI team — the players led us to the championship.

You've always recruited players that other programs overlooked. What do you see in a kid that others miss?

I look for talent I feel I can develop — people who are committed to a team-first mindset, who want to win on and off the field. The ceiling for a player committed to making a team great is much higher than the player who's ultra talented but selfish.

I've followed this script over and over. It's served me well. When we get into the toughest battles, I know I can trust players like these to stay in the fight and execute.

What's your take on kids playing multiple sports, and what do you say to parents pushing early specialization?

I've been very consistent here. While it's important to improve baseball skills, I feel strongly that kids should play multiple sports — to improve their athleticism, build their competitiveness, get exposed to different types of leadership and teamwork, and most of all, to have fun.

Burnout is ending careers before they start. How do we protect kids from it and keep them in the game?

As adults, we need to remember our own experiences as a young person. Why did we fall in love with the game? It wasn't a parent pressuring us to perform at all costs, or a coach who bullied us — it was supportive parents and coaches who believed in us.

We need to teach kids to be accountable, but there needs to be balance. Especially in a game built around failure, there needs to be a different perspective on success. With our hitters, when they review an at-bat, it's three things: were you on time, did you swing at a good pitch, did you square it up on the barrel. Those are the things you can control.

That's my best advice to a parent — focus on the process and what your child can control, and make it as fun as possible. But that means you have to set the example.

What advice do you have for players at each stage? Little league, middle school, high school?

I wouldn't worry about the recruiting process in little league or middle school. Once you're in high school, you better be in the weight room. With the transfer portal, it's getting harder for high school guys to crack a college starting lineup — your competition will be older, more physical, and the game will be faster than you're used to.

Go watch a college game at any level — most DI games are on ESPN+ now. See what it takes to play at that level. Be honest with yourself: are you ready, and what do you need to improve? If you can play, show good character, and want to win, college coaches — and maybe scouts — will find you.

Walk us through recruiting from your side — do college camps actually work, and how does a player get noticed without a national travel program?

We start building our follow lists as early as a player's sophomore year. Camps are a big part of the ID process, but there are other ways too — we use Prep Baseball Report a lot to get a broad sense of who's out there. PBR is like an appetizer on a menu — it gets us interested enough to follow up.

Often prospects come onto our radar unexpectedly — prospect camps and team camps are becoming the best avenues to be seen. Decide which schools you're truly interested in. Earlier in high school, stay open-minded — do your research, see teams play. By junior year at the latest, narrow your list to 5–7 schools and attend their camps to find out if the interest is real.

If you play travel ball, push your coach to get the team into a team camp. You're guaranteed to play in front of college coaches, and they get to work with you on the field.

This spring, Mount St. Mary’s beat Missouri, an SEC program with every resource imaginable. What does that say about how you build players?

It's a mindset. Mizzou is an SEC program, but their players aren't invincible — no one is. It's about believing in your preparation and execution. It's about how we play, not who we play.

If we stay focused on what we can control, we have success. If we panic over things that don't matter — the umpires, who's in the other dugout — we struggle. I've always asked my teams to stay focused on this pitch, then move to the next one. You're going to take punches in this game. The teams that stick with it and find a way to respond are the ones that prevail.

A big part of development is mental. Baseball can beat you down if you let it. You need mental skills to draw on when things get tough, on and off the field.

What life lessons has baseball taught you?

Baseball has given me everything. I've been blessed to be in the game this long, so appreciation is a big one. It teaches humility, resiliency, that there are no shortcuts — you can't skip steps and expect to be any good — the power of team, trusting assistants and players to do their job (delegation has never come easy to me), and staying mentally tough — don't check out when things come easy, or when hope seems lost.

The biggest lesson is that relationships matter more than anything. We all want to win and improve, and every player wants to go pro. The more we focus on relationships and culture, the X's and O's take care of themselves. Our careers end someday, but the bonds we built last a lifetime.

What message would you deliver to coaches and parents today?

I'd ask them: tell me about a time a parent or coach made you feel pressured, anxious, not worthy. Was that fun? Did it make you want to keep playing? I'm not talking about accountability — I'm talking about the balance between pushing a kid out of their comfort zone and supporting them.

Take off the rose-colored glasses. Your kid may be the best player at 12, but if they don't keep working, someone will pass them by. Have honest conversations. Tell them what they need to hear, in a way that they know you love them. The message lands when it's delivered that way.

“First, I want to thank Steve Holmes for asking me to do this. Steve was one of the most important recruits we ever had during my time at URI. Steve was a champion on and off the field, and as you can tell, still is. It's people and players like him that made me a good coach. Steve had opportunities to go elsewhere, but he believed in what we were building at URI. He became one of the most successful pitchers in school history. Talk about a bulldog!

Steve, even as a freshman, wouldn't be outworked or intimidated. He took the ball, looked the hitter in the eye and said, "I'm better than you." Most of the time, it worked out well. Even when it didn't, Steve was always ready for the next chance he got. And, not sure if he has ever mentioned this, but he led the entire nation at the DI level in ERA in 2006. Not too bad for a kid from Lincoln, RI. I'm so proud of him, and all he accomplished. The contribution he's making here is invaluable, and makes me even more proud of him!

For players...the world is yours. You have opportunities to do things that you haven't even imagined yet. Keep an open mind and heart. Your parents and coaches can believe in you all they want. But, if you don't believe in yourself, you'll put unnecessary barriers in your path.

For coaches...use your creativity. There's always a way to make practice more engaging. Keep it short, but productive. None of us liked standing in the outfield shagging flyballs for hours. Subscribe to the principle of Quality over Quantity. Short spurts and quality reps. Your team will get more out of it. Your players will be engaged, will develop and will enjoy the game!

For parents...I can't stress enough that your job as a support is critical. Know when to encourage, know when to hold your son/daughter accountable, and know when it's best to say nothing. It isn't easy, but your kids are watching and listening to everything you do. At the end of the day, if they know you love them unconditionally, no matter what happens on the field, your kids will have a chance at the very success you covet for them.”

Frank's message is the same thing he told a 2-9 team in 2005, and the same thing he tells every recruit he brings to campus: it's not about the resources you have, it's about what you do with them.

Talent gets you in the door. Character, coachability, and a willingness to compete for something bigger than yourself are what keep you there. It's what turns a long-shot kid from Lincoln into an MLB draft pick, and a team that started 2-9 into champions.

For the parents and coaches reading this, his ask is simple: stop measuring success by the scoreboard at 12 years old, and start measuring it by whether your kid still loves the game at 18.

Push them. Hold them accountable. But make sure they know, every step of the way, that you're in their corner.

Help me keep more kids in the game. If you found this helpful, please forward it to another parent or coach.

Thanks for being here. See you next week Inside the Dugout.

-Coach Steve-

Steve Holmes
Founder, Inside the Dugout
2006 MLB Draft | All-American | Youth Coach | Dad