Moving from Corvallis, Oregon, to Tucson has its perks beyond the abundant sunshine. One example, per Nate Yeskie, who recently made that move: “Not having to get Jay’s hitters out.”
Jay would be Jay Johnson, the coach of the Arizona Wildcats, who have been the most consistently prolific offensive club in the Pac-12 since he arrived in town. Yeskie is the Wildcats’ new pitching coach by way of Oregon State, which dominated from the mound during most of his time there.
Since the two have joined forces, their battles will be limited to intra-squad scrimmages. Arizona begins fall practice Oct. 11. Expectations are high.
Johnson lured Yeskie from OSU in the hope that he can elevate the performance of the Wildcats’ pitching staff, which held the team back last season.
If the pitchers can match, or even approach, what the hitters have done, Arizona could make a run for the conference title.
But that’s a long way off. Johnson said he believes in a day-to-day approach, and Yeskie is grinding away with a group of players he’s just getting to know. It beats working for a living.
After his minor-league playing career ended in 2001, Yeskie spent some time in sales for Cintas, a corporate uniform outfitter. He didn’t much care for it.
“No,” Yeskie said. “It was a job.”
Coaching is a passion project for which he just so happens to be paid.
“I love it,” Yeskie said. “Every day that I wake up, every day that I go to bed, I am extremely thankful to be able to do what I do. To be able to influence young men and ... help them achieve what their dreams are, it’s nice to be able to co-pilot them through their journey. I don’t view it as a job.”
Yeskie, 45, began coaching at UNLV, his alma mater. Then came an 11-year stint at Oregon State, which made three trips to the College World Series while he was there and won it 2018.
After a coaching change at OSU, Yeskie decided it was time to make one of his own. He has been here almost two months, along with wife, Brittney, and daughter, A.J., 7.
Yeskie spoke to the Tucson media for the first time Wednesday. Here is a portion of that conversation, which has been lightly edited for context and clarity:
How difficult was it to leave Oregon State?
A: “When you’re somewhere for over a decade and you’ve had a lot of success, it was harder leaving the people. I think places are what they are because of the people. And that was the challenge. You recruit kids. You build relationships with their families. You get to know people around there. My wife went to school there, she played volleyball there, she has family in the area. So those were things that were taken into consideration. But I just think ... it was time for a change.”
Was it a difficult sell for your wife because of her ties to the school?
A: “If you’re good at your job, people are always going to come knocking on your door. These are things that we’ve had to entertain in the past. So it wasn’t something that caught us off guard. Every offseason, there was a phone call of some sort that we had to contend with. So it was getting her on board with that. I think that she was excited about just experiencing new things in the world and seeing what they had to offer.”
What are you most proud of from your time at Oregon State?
A: “The relationships. When you look at helping kids accomplish their goals, both on and off the field, those things are really what we do this for. Yeah, you want to win games. You want to win titles. Winning a national championship was great. But at the conclusion of that, there’s still a lot of miles left to be traveled with kids. What are their dreams beyond that?
“I’m most proud of just being able to establish the relationships that we had, to grow and develop a place. I’d like to think that I left it better than I found it. That’s the goal with anything that you do in life. You build something. You build those things through people, and that’s probably what I’ll remember the most.”
How would you assess the staff you’ve inherited, just from what you’ve seen so far?
A: “There’s talent there, there’s no doubt. It’s just getting to know those guys and getting to build a unit, a culture of sorts that those guys can adhere (to), police and continue to grow and develop. That learning process is what we’re going through right now, just getting everybody on the same page with regard to some of those items and how we’re going to view them, how we’re going to try to grow in some of the areas that we need to grow and really just continue to develop those personal relationships.”
Are you trying to replicate the mentality you developed at Oregon State?
A: “That’s always a challenge. Each year is different. Each group of kids you have is different. It’s looking at where they need to grow, where they need to develop and how they need to do it.
“The ideals may be the same as far as what you’re trying to accomplish. Does that framework exist here? I think it’s different right now. We’re going to take the positives of what’s here. We’re going to take the positives of the things that I’ve experienced and try to put those (two) together.”
How would you summarize your general approach as a pitching coach?
A: “Thorough, comprehensive and competitive. I like to take great pride in that our guys are prepared for whatever the challenge is that they have, whether that’s a midweek game, whether that’s a weekend where you’re working to fight for a conference title, a regional title or a super-regional title. We try to keep it consistent. We try to maintain consistency in everything that we do and try to be really good at being really efficient.”
The staff was not efficient last season. (Arizona issued 5.33 walks per nine innings, ranking last in the Pac-12 and 263rd nationally.) How do you approach something like that? Is it a clean slate for everybody?
A: “I’ve looked back at video, and I’ve (picked up on) some things. But as far as a clean slate, the way you put it, yeah, that’s absolutely what it is because this is my first go-round with them. They’re learning me. I’m learning them. We give them a different format to operate within, and thus far it’s been a good transition.
“What’ll make it great is how we can put those pieces together when it matters. And that’s the challenge that we have day in and day out – to make sure that these guys understand that it’s always going to be about the work. There’s always going to be work to do. And it’s how well can we do those things.
“It’s not necessarily who we play, it’s how we play. If we can focus on those controllables, then I think that we’ll be in the right frame of mind to limit some of those areas where maybe there was a deficiency last year.”
Jay has a specific philosophy and system in place. How does your approach jive with his?
A: “Well, I think. As much as I said I didn’t want to get his hitters out, he said he got sick and tired of facing my pitchers. We’ll get to see those battles here in the fall, but at least we’ll be operating out of the same dugout in the spring.
“He doesn’t want to go to the mound. He doesn’t want to worry about having those discussions. He said, ‘I hired you to do something.’ He empowers us to do our job. And I think he’s known how I’ve gone about my business for however long I’ve been doing this now to say, ‘You know what? You can go do your stuff. And we’ll meet up when we need to meet up and get on the same page if we have to make adjustments in-game.’ ”
Dave Lawn was your predecessor here. He’s still on the staff. What’s it been like working with him?
A: “He’s a pro. He’s been doing it for a long time. And I say that with great affection. He’s a great resource. He offers great perspective.
“I know that there are challenges when you come into a situation like this where staffs get restructured. Sometimes that’s easy. Sometimes that can be difficult. Dave’s made it easy for me.”
When UA fans come to Hi Corbett Field in the spring, what can they expect to see from your pitching staff?
A: “Aggressive. Competitive. We will be prepared. Now does that mean that things are going to unfold the way that (we want them to)? I think (former LSU coach) Skip Bertman said years ago, ‘You can play well and win; you can play well and lose. You can play bad and win; you can play bad and lose.’ Two of those things you can stomach, because once the wins and losses are up on the board, they are what they are.
“At the end of the day, you’re looking to win. But you’re also looking to develop young men and help them understand that it’s all problem-solving. Whether that’s getting yourself through an inning, whether that’s getting a bunt down, whether that’s figuring out how to get a left-hander out or right-hander out, (it’s) giving those kids a skill set to do those things so ... they’re best prepared for success.”
