ATHENS, W.Va. – Former Concord University baseball pitcher and Concord head baseball coach Andrew Wright is the latest guest on the Concord University Athletic Alumni at Work interview series.
Since leaving Concord as the head coach at the conclusion of the 2015 season, Wright served in the same role at the University of Charleston from 2016-19. Now Wright and his family lives in the Dominican Republic where he is the Dominican Republic Director of Baseball Operations for the New York Yankees organization.
In his time as a player and coach, Wright had the good fortune of winning five conference championships (one as a player in 2001 at Concord and four as a coach, two at Concord in 2011 and 2013 and two at Charleston in 2018 and 2019).
With Concord University Sports Information Director
Wes McKinney as the host, Wright relives his playing career at Concord from 2000-2002, what he learned from his mentor and current Concord Director of Athletics and head baseball coach
Kevin Garrett and how he guided the Concord baseball program for five years before taking over at Charleston.
Some excerpts of the interview are listed below while the complete interview is here:
https://cutt.ly/Dhvg0Xf
ON WINNING THE CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP AS A PLAYER
I had the good fortune of being on the mound for that championship game, threw a complete game. I think that's about the extent of what I could hang my hat on for my playing career. I certainly wasn't a world beater by any means, but I just loved the opportunity to contribute to that team because of how awesome the players were, coaching staff, the whole thing. To me, it was a perfect storm. We had dealt with some adversity early in the year from a roster perspective. It was a group of players that didn't like being told they couldn't do something from a competitive standpoint. When you have a moment like that early in your life, it shapes you the rest of the way you go through your life.
ON FINDING HIS NICHE AS A HEAD COACH AFTER TALKING WITH COACH GARRETT
I tried too hard to mimic the things that were unique to (Coach Garrett). When I learned how to be myself—was actually another bit of advice he gave me early in my coaching career—he said just be yourself. I didn't take that advice for a few years. It wasn't until I took that advice I kind of hit my stride. I learned so many lessons from him that I apply to my professional life whether it's the attention to detail or having a hard edge. I think that stuff is so important. When I was able to grow up and mature myself, I was able to put my position to be more of myself.
ON THE PROGRAM RUNNING ITSELF IN 2013 AND 2014
When you say the program ran itself, it really did. My job was to plant the guard rails and make sure the guys were going down the road. That's legitimately what we were trying to do. They were a fun group to coach because they made my job easier. They were motivated. I was selling the idea of you're supposed to win and I don't see what the breakdown is. Joey Miller and I used to joke about, if you want a team that can hit you have to recruit hitters. If you want a team that can win, you have to recruit a bunch of winners. That's really what it came down to. We had a really good group of people that knew how to win.
Â
