Sunday Morning Chat: Monarch Head Coach Joe Franco

Monarch is having its best season ever at 13-2, and the team has high hopes for the rest of the year. In today’s Sunday Morning Chat, we discuss scheduling, veteran coaches, goals and coaching styles with the person in charge of the Knights program, head coach Joe Franco. Enjoy!

Anthony: Your team is off to a 13-2 start this season. What’s different about this team that has allowed them to have success that other teams here at Monarch have not enjoyed?

Coach Franco: I think I have a bunch of seniors who have really stepped up. They have been with me for four years on Varsity. They didn’t get a lot of playing time as freshman, but every year, more and more they got increased playing time, became starters, and I think having a good solid core of seniors with a mix of some pretty good young players has helped us to get us where we are right now.

Anthony: The politically correct answer to this next question is to say that every game is tough, but we both know that some are tougher than others. Tell me your truthful reaction when you found out you were going from a district with Coral Springs, Douglas and Coral Glades to one with Boyd Anderson, Creek and Northeast.

Coach Franco: At first, I would have to say I was kind of upset, because I really liked the rivalries we had in that district. I thought with the team we had assembled for this year we would have been able to compete in that district. And then my second thought was, we have a great opportunity for us to get to regionals for the first time ever, and a great chance to win a district title. Creek and BA, obviously, BA is BA, Creek is down. As far as Northeast goes, I figured when I first saw this, it was going to be between us and Northeast for the district title. And when we got to play that first game against Northeast and we ended up going 12 innings, that lit a fire under my kids’ butts, showing them we were going to have to actually win the district, and it’s not just getting handed to us. So, one part of me was like “Oh man, I’m really gonna miss that district.” But again, it gives us a better opportunity to get to the regional tournament than we’ve had in the past.

Anthony: Critics point to your team’s 13-2 record, and they question it’s legitimacy. What would be your answer to those that believe your record is a product of the schedule, as opposed to the true talent level of this team?

Coach Franco: I would say that district games, I have no control over that. The state does the district schedule. You know you can look at, you can look at Northeast in particular. They beat some teams that nobody thought they could have beaten this season. You go back to your Fall Classic Tourney, they beat teams in the fall in that tournament that nobody thought they could beat. As far as my out of district games, Zion Lutheran I think is a pretty good team. A lot of those kids on that team have been in the state final four. Most 8A teams don’t even have kids that have made it to the state final four. Playing Deerfield on opening day, we faced their number one, and now he’s hurt. So, that has hurt Deerfield a lot this year that [Joey] Ursetti hasn’t been able to pitch at all. In the first week of the season we faced Olympic Heights’ number one. He’s a pretty good pitcher in Palm Beach County.

We have Coral Springs on our schedule. We have St. Thomas on our schedule. We played the seventh-ranked team in the country, Nova, tight. We were losing 3-1 into the fourth inning and one pitch changed the game. Obviously, there is a difference between their seniors. They have guys with Division I scholarships. My seniors have been overlooked but are having fun. Some of my other games, I’ve got Santaluces on my schedule, which is always a tough team. Fort Lauderdale, one of the best-coached teams in the county I think, we play them twice, we beat them once already this year. That’s what I would say to the critics.

Anthony: Following up on that question, all coaches schedule their out-of-district games differently. Some stack their schedule with the toughest competition they can with the hope of preparing their team for playoff time. Others schedule games with coaches who are friends of theirs, just to name a couple of examples. What is your philosophy regarding your non-district scheduling?

Coach Franco: Well, seeing that we only have six district games this year, I was given kind of a free reign of who I wanted to play. What many fans don’t realize is that there are so many more things involved in making a schedule than the end result. For instance, I had Douglas on my schedule that I put on my wish list this year and they had to drop me because they had too many games. So I had to pick up another team, and instead of picking up a Hallandale or a Dillard, who I knew didn’t have 20 games yet, I went the private school route and scheduled Zion Lutheran, who still is a pretty good team. So sometimes people don’t always know the whole story. They might see a coach’s schedule and say “Oh, he’s playing him?” Well yeah, this just happens to be why I’m playing him.

As far as the other out-of-district, I always play my brother every year (Santaluces), I’ll always do that. And some of these teams, to me it’s always good to have a couple teams lesser on your schedule because it gives you an opportunity to get kids in who don’t usually play. It gives you a chance to get them in the games. Especially with only 20 games, I mean some teams have like one game a week, it’s like a football schedule. So, that’s where the Stranahans come in and some of my district games that we won pretty good, those games are for development as much as record. Also, to me, I wanted to play as many 7A teams as I could, that’s why I got Plantation on the schedule, Cooper City, Nova I was fortunate to play, St. Thomas. And then, again, Coral Springs is a local rivalry for me. I played there under Frank. I always like playing him every year.

Anthony: You’re still considered a young coach in the county. What specific tips have you learned from some of the veteran coaches around Broward?

Coach Franco: You’ve got to have tough skin. You’ve got to have tough skin. It doesn’t matter if you’re winning or losing, there is always going to be someone unhappy with you. This is my sixth year at the same program, and I have every intention of, lord willing, staying here for 30 years. I love this place. This was my first job. It’s not too many times that you get a job right out college at 21, 22 years old and you are running a program. I was fortunate enough to fall into the right place at the right time.

Trusting your gut, going with your morals, knowing what is right and what is wrong to do. Taking your lumps in the beginning, because ultimately you’re trying to build a program, and this program before I took it over, was 3-22, never had a winning record. We were a laughing stock. I think it’s just, little by little, taking advice from guys like Coach Portice (Fort Lauderdale), my brother (Nick Franco), Coach Bumbales, guys I respect in the county, guys that have been doing it for a long time, a lot longer than me.

Anthony: You mentioned you were young when you came in and got the job. So in what ways has your coaching style changed over the years?

Coach Franco: That’s a good question. My first year, I remember being this college kid, college baseball player coming in, running the program. I had 10 seniors on the team, all of them are 18 years old, maybe two or three years younger than me, and I remember I was very energetic. I’m still energetic, I’m still enthusiastic, I still love to coach, I still want to win every game. But I think, I think I was more aggressive coming out of college. I think my choice of words weren’t exactly appropriate coming out of college, because I was used to the way my college coaches talked to me, the way the college coaches got in your face. Back then, I treated every player, I don’t want to say treated every player the same, but reacted to players messing up the same. I think I did that a lot when I was younger, but as I grow up, as I mature as a coach, I gain an understanding that each kid is different, each kid has a different situation. You have to handle each kid with the same discipline, but how you handle that discipline can be different. I think I’ve matured a lot in that respect.

Anthony: We both played for Coach Bumbales over at Coral Springs, you also played for me when I coached. Outside of those relationships, who are some of those coaches you look up to in the county?

Coach Franco: Number one is my brother. I look to my brother for basically everything. He was like a father growing up, you know growing up with a single mom in the household. With our father passing away, Nick kind of took the reigns. My whole life, I have always gone to him for advice and all that stuff. Coach Portice is a guy I respect 100 percent. What he does with his program and how he does it is admirable. I’d really say those three, Bumbales, Portice and my brother, are the three guys I really go to.

Anthony: Major League Baseball is full of managers that have different personalities. Which major league coach do you look at and try and model yourself after, and why?

Coach Franco: There’s a part of me that says it’s good to be a players manager, you know, talk with the guys, let them do what they’ve got to do, you know, let the guys play. I guess you can say I have a Terry Francona personality, where I want to let the kids do what they have to do and play and when it comes to the games I want them to be able to win the games and do all that stuff. And another part of me has that Bobby Valentine mentality where you know, this is how it’s going to be done, it’s my way or the highway, if you don’t like it there’s the gate. So, I think taking on maybe multiple personalities I think can help because you have the structure on one end, and you also have the loose, fun-spirited coach on the other end, and I think doing both and not just being rigid toward one, it definitely helps out the kids. I think they are more excited when they do something wrong, they know what their consequence is, there’s no fluff about it. At the same time, we can have fun, like in today’s practice, we’re having an intersquad. We’re having fun, but at the same time, kids are getting work and they know that, just ‘cause I’m not looking, they still have to get their work done. So I would say those two guys.

Anthony: What do you believe are the biggest changes in high school baseball players from when you played until now?

Coach Franco: I would have to say, when I played, I ate, slept and drank baseball. I was a Colt through and through. I knew ever since my freshman year I wanted to coach high school and I wanted to teach at a high school level. I knew right away I wasn’t going to be a major-leaguer, I didn’t throw hard enough, and I realized that early on. I think the difference between my era, which was I graduated ’02 from high school, and this era is the reality of some of the parents of how talented or not talented their kid actually is.

I think that problem, it is a lot more prevalent now versus when I was playing. When I was playing high school under Frank, I can’t remember a parent ever going to Coach Bumbales and talking about playing time or emailing him about this or that. Frank and I have a very good relationship, and we talk about this stuff all the time. He tells me a lot of the stuff that went on when I played and what didn’t go on. Things that [haven’t] happened in the past that happen now. And I’d have to say the players now, there’s a lot more parent involvement as far as concerns for their kid on the field. My mom was in the Coral Springs program for eight years between my brother and I, and I don’t think she went to Bumbales once about playing time. She knew that it was the coach’s job to do what they had to do and they make the lineups based on their judgement.

The other thing I’d have to say is … I think the 20 games really hurts the players nowadays because there’s so many less innings to play. When I was in high school it was two preseason games, 28 regular-season games, and a guaranteed district playoff game. So I think a lack of games really hurts the players from a competitive standpoint, because you can’t play as many rivalry games as you would like.

Anthony: You mentioned your brother Nick, the head coach up at Santaluces up in Palm Beach, and of course, you’re running the program here down at Monarch. How is it that you both ended up as teachers and coaching high school baseball?

Coach Franco: I have to be honest. If my brother was a musician, I probably would have been a musician. Growing up, my mom put him in baseball, so she put me into baseball. He went to Coral Springs High, I went to Coral Spring High. He wanted to teach and coach, I wanted to teach and coach. So it was almost like a little brother tag-along type thing, but I have no regrets because I love what I do. I knew when he wanted to play college ball, I wanted to play college ball. He wanted to coach and teach after that so I wanted to it. And it kinda just it fits. The Francos are supposed to be around baseball. We didn’t have the talent to go to the major leagues, but we had the talent, the experience and the knowledge to do what we are doing now.

Anthony: For most siblings, the competitive rivalry ends when they grow up. You and Nick make it a point to have your teams face each other each year. How much does that fire burn to beat your brother in that game every season.

Coach Franco: I can remember my first year when we were down 3-0 in the sixth inning, and I thought he was going to beat us and I was going to be real pissed. Then we came we came back and scored four runs in the bottom of the sixth to win the game. I was the happiest person alive. And then after, we went to Coconut Creek Ale House and we had some drinks and we had some lunch, he was happy for me, but he was still pissed that he lost. And then I ran into a guy who throws 93 mph for four straight years, and I really had no chance. I’m hoping this year is the year we can really break through and win another game against them. As much as I want him to win games, I don’t want him to win against me. I want my brother to be 24-1 every year, just like I want Frank Bumbales to go 19-1. I want those losses to be against Monarch.

Anthony: Coming back to your team this year, you guys are heading into your most difficult stretch of your season with games coming up against Fort Lauderdale, Coral Springs, St. Thomas and Santaluces. How motivated are you and your players to show that the 13-2 record is not a mirage, while proving to critics that you are good enough play with any team in the county?

Coach Franco: Like I told my kids, it’s ultimately what we feel we have to do to win a game and our focus has always been “win today.” We know that a district tournament is looming. We know that St. Thomas, Coral Springs, Santaluces, all these good games are looming. Obviously, I want to win those games, but ultimately we’re focusing one game at a time. The kids know that they have to do something special this year because, especially for the seniors, it’s their last year. They want to go out on a winning note. They want a district title. They want to advance in the regionals, and I think playing Nova in that Spring Break game was a good test, and I think other than that one pitch, we were in that game. So that’s what we’re focusing on, one game at a time.

Anthony: You guys have hung around that 9 to 10 spot in the power rankings all year. Is there a part of you that thinks that this team is actually being underrated?

Coach Franco: Ultimately we know what we have, and I know what we can do against certain teams. I knew it was going to be tough for us to beat Nova, so obviously us beating BA twice and Creek twice and Stranahan once, that’s five of our wins. I understand. I’m not oblivious to what happens in the county as far as that goes. People have their opinions. People can say what they want to say. But, I’ll go to battle against anyone with my team. Even on a Sunday, if they want to go play on a Sunday, I’ll go and battle with them, because I trust my players. I trust that they’re going to play the right way and give our team the best chance to win, and ultimately, that’s all you can ask for from your kids.

Anthony: Lastly, give me two things that have to happen for Monarch to be playing for a state title at the end of this season.

Coach Franco: Number one I think we have to just keep winning games, because I believe that winning breeds confidence. I think if we win the district, which everyone thinks we’re going to, but we can’t think like that. If we make errors and we give Northeast extra outs and they do what they have to do, they’re going to beat us, and we’re going to look back and say, “Damn, we just missed out on an opportunity.” I think winning our district would be a first step. I think getting to host a regional game on our field would be to our advantage. I think as long as my pitchers and defense keep us in the game, I have full confidence in us. I think with my top three pitchers, between [Andrew] Pierson, [Andrew] Rohloff and [David] Webb, I think we can match up. I think our pitching will keep us in games. And I think if our defense keeps other teams to three outs an inning, I think we can compete with anybody hands down. I don’t care if it’s Flanagan, Nova, St. Thomas. I really don’t care. I think with our pitching and defense, if we do what we have to do on that side of the ball, we have a chance.

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