By STEVE KRAH
http://www.IndianaRBI.com
Matt Reida’s second go-round on the University of Alabama baseball coaching staff began in June 2021.
After almost a year coaching at the University of Pittsburgh, the graduate of Western High School (Russiaville, Ind.) and the University of Kentucky came back to the Crimson Tide program as an assistant coach. He was a UA volunteer assistant from 2019-20.
Reida has gone from a volunteer at Indiana University to a paid position at Xavier University and back to a volunteer position at Alabama so he knows both sides.
“I’m lucky to be around some really good coaches,” says Reida. “(Volunteer or paid), you just get in there and coach.”
As an NCAA Division I volunteer, coaches don’t get involved in recruiting other than show recruit around campus and they derive most of their income from running camps and conducting lessons.
Welcomed back to the Brad Bohannon-led Alabama staff last summer, Reida went straight into recruiting mode.
“The good thing about Alabama is that it’s such a national brand,” says Reida, who was at the 2022 American Baseball Coaches Association Convention in Chicago. “We tell kids that when (football coach Nick) Saban first got to Alabama two thirds of the students were from in-state and now two-thirds are from out-of-state. So it’s really changed.
“It’s a lot of Alabama and some Atlanta and some Mississippi and Florida. But it’s a pretty diverse locker room. We’ve had a good run of Indiana kids and Midwest kids.”
Indiana is currently represented by Center Grove’s Bryce Eblin. There are also a couple of Canadians and player from California.
“It’s a neat place to recruit to because you get to go all over,” says Reida, who says recruiting nationally is almost easier than go toe-to-toe with other Southeastern Conference teams for talent in the South.
Being an Indiana native coaching in a power conference like the SEC, Reida figures he’s raising the state’s baseball profile — something that young coaches Jared Broughton (Clemson) and Michael Earley (Texas A&M) are also doing.
“Look at the past of Indiana baseball from an amateur standpoint to where it is now,” says Reida. “There’s really, really good players coming out of Indiana right now. Those guys are as good as anywhere in the country.
“Look at the indoor facilities that are in Indiana right now — or even Chicago. In these cold weather climates, it’s easier for those kids to get the work year-round. They didn’t have that opportunity 20 years ago.”
Reida, who was born in Kokomo, Ind., says Major League Baseball is full of players from warm climates because of the very nature of the sport.
“It’s such a repetition game,” says Reida. “The guys with the most reps usually end up being the best players.”
Reida, who graduated from Western in 2010, remembers taking ground balls on a gym floor after basketball practice.
“Now these kids have this beautiful turf indoors that is the exact same as if you were outside. So that’s a huge advantage now for kids from Indiana.”
While reps are key, Reida is also a proponent of baseball players engaging in other sports like basketball.
“It helps you athletically over time,” says Reida. “Some kids are a little more (single-faceted) where they play baseball all the time and don’t develop athletically.”
To play basketball effectively, speed and agility are a part of the package.
Alabama is to open its 2022 season Feb. 18 at home in Tuscaloosa against Xavier. It’s one of 34 regular-season games slated at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
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