John Delaney is not only the head coach of the Quinnipiac baseball team, but he was also a star on the team just ten years ago. Delaney was a member of the All-Northeast Conference team each of his four years, and is fourth on the all-time list for hits, and tied for third for all-time doubles. After being drafted to play for the Milwaukee Brewers, Delaney retired after three seasons. Delaney made his return to college baseball at Sacred Heart University and the University of Hartford before returning to Quinnipiac as an assistant coach in 2013— and was promoted to associate head coach in 2014.

Coach Delaney has helped the Bobcats' program make many strides. In the 2017-18 season, Daley led his team to a school-record number of wins in conference and earned the honor of being the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Coach of the Year. While the team was projected to be in eighth place out of eleven teams in the conference, Daley led his team to a second-place finish. Coach Delaney has also helped three of his student-athletes make it to the next level and get drafted to the MLB.

As a coach, Delaney understands the importance of academics, along with athletics. His players also know the importance of working hard in the classroom. This past season, 14 members of the team were named to the MAAC All-Academic team. He expects his players, along with his incoming players to “push themselves to achieve above expectations on and off the field and in the classroom.” In addition, when looking for recruits, Delaney looks for players with a good “work ethic.”

Coach Delaney has many pieces of advice regarding the recruiting process on how to maximize your success throughout the process. Daley shared with us that he dislikes when recruits “talk about how much nicer facilities are at other schools.”Specifically, if you are interested in playing baseball at Quinnipiac, you can get on their radar by creating a highlight reel during the offseason and sending it in an email during the fall of your junior year.

We asked what the do's and don'ts for a recruiting highlight tape are, and Coach said, “Show all aspects of your game and don't act like your too cool to be on the field with everyone else.” This is important as you want to portray yourself as a team player— not as someone who is better and above their teammates. What jumps out on a recruit's highlight tape is: “Attitude, work ethic, [and] showing aggressiveness on [your] swing to prove that [your] trying to make a point to the coaches that will watch. Do something most recruits wouldn't do so you stand out.”

In recruiting today, social media is often heavily used by recruits, coaches, and college teams. Coaches do their research and check their recruit's social media pages to make sure they are recruiting the type of people that they want representing their program. We asked about how big of a factor social media is in recruiting and what advice he has for student-athletes. The coach said: “[Social media] is very big. Be smart with what you post. Sometimes recruits will turn coaches away… One little post can affect your future.”

Many student-athletes have a “dream school”— a school they have been longing to go to and play the sport they love since they were kids. Sometimes these schools are not realistic and recruits get turned down by the school they love. However, this is no reason to lose hope. Coach Delaney believes there are other options if recruits do not gain the recruiting attention they desire. “Sometimes dream schools aren't meant to be, and there is always a school that will want you. You need to be open to hearing what can be put there. Sometimes looking past the bells and whistles at the dream schools and seeing what the smaller schools have to offer may benefit you more in the long run. You want to make an impact with a program, not just be part of a program.”

One last piece of advice that Coach John Delaney shared with us is: “Lock in on schools you can play baseball at and achieve the education that will help you in the future. Education becomes priority one and baseball is secondary.”

Thank you, Coach Delaney, and good luck during next year's season!

* Originally published on July 26, 2018, by Bryana Hopkins