OXFORD –
Jeremy Massie spent his college years pitching for Ole Miss and Northwest Mississippi Community College. Now he's trying to teach other pitchers a thing or two.Massie knew his playing days were over after Ole Miss' season ended last year in the College World Series, but the former Rebel has stayed with the program as a graduate manager and recently landed a gig he's hoping will allow him to stay in the game for good.Massie was hired in April as the pitching coach for the Waterloo (Iowa) Bucks of the Northwoods League, a summer developmental league for current college players. Massie got his coaching feet wet last summer, coaching teenagers in Indiana by himself, but Massie said he considers his position with Waterloo his "first job.""Now I'm the pitching coach, I have two other coaches, I have a head coach and a hitting coach," Massie said. "It's not quite as stressful as last summer."The Bucks began their season in late May and own a 10-7 record. Massie's staff, which consists of pitchers from Minnesota, Central Michigan and Western Illinois among others, has a combined 4.52 earned run average.But the results are secondary to Massie's main objective for the summer."Basically what I'm here for is to learn, learn about coaching," Massie said. "Then at the same time, I want to turn around and teach the guys what I know from what I've learned from Ole Miss and other places."A versatile southpaw in college, Massie made 40 combined appearances for Ole Miss his junior and senior seasons. Most of them came in relief, but Massie eventually took over as the Rebels' midweek starter in 2014, posting a 4-3 record with a 2.69 ERA in nine starts.The Sardis native walked on at Ole Miss after two productive seasons for head coach Mark Carson at NWCC, turning in a career record of 6-3 in 22 appearances with a 3.32 ERA.But with a small frame (5-foot-10, 175 pounds) and a fastball that topped out in the mid-80s, Massie was realistic about his chances at the next level. He wanted to coach, and after deciding to stay on at Ole Miss as a graduate manager, he asked for help from the Rebels' coaches to get started.Through some of pitching coach Carl Lafferty's connections, Massie found out about the opening on Waterloo's staff and landed the job.
"It worked out pretty well," Massie said.
Coaching the position he once played has made the transition from player to coach smoother for Massie — "I've been around pitching for so long that I feel like I'm pretty knowledgeable about things," he said — but he's the one giving out the instruction instead of receiving it.
He's the teacher now, something he has to remind himself of at times.
"I've got to sit back, relax and not get all anxious and try to keep (the pitchers) calm at the same time," Massie said. "Make sure they're focused for each pitch and try to help them make pitches. Help them with different situations that I see, try to get by it and try to win ballgames that way."
One thing the Bucks' staff has struggled with, Massie said, is a lack of location. Waterloo's pitchers have combined to allow 155 hits in 151.2 innings, something Massie believes will improve as he works with his group on keeping pitches out of the heart of the strike zone.
"It's hard to hit a fastball on the outside corner at 94 (miles per hour), but that 94 down the middle and it's not moving, anybody can hit that," Massie said. "That's something I want to stress not just for the fastball but for every pitch that a pitcher may throw."
Massie will return to Ole Miss in the fall in the same role for another season as he finishes graduate school and wants to continue coaching at the college level afterward. He said he'd like to return to his alma mater and have Lafferty's job one day.
But Massie knows he'll likely have to work his way up the coaching tree, which is fine with him.
"Coaching is the next best thing for me," Massie said, "and I enjoy it so far."
