From cleaning dog butts to the World Series: Meet MLB’s oldest — and most interesting — pitching coach
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Jesse Rogers, ESPN Staff Writer
LESS THAN FOUR months after the Arizona Diamondbacks‘ postseason run ended with a World Series loss to the Texas Rangers, baseball’s oldest pitching coach is back in his comfort zone, instructing his pitching staff as he walks the backfields of spring training.
His body might someday tell him it has had enough, but that time hasn’t yet arrived for 75-year-old Brent Strom, and with a freshly signed two-year contract, his entire focus is on getting the D-backs one step further than the team went in November.
“I’ve been conditioned to lose the World Series,” Strom said between Brandon Pfaadt pitches during live batting practice one recent morning. “I’ve lost three of them. All three on our home field. Watching the other team celebrate on our home field is doubly painful.
“I’m like the Buffalo Bills.”
Though Strom is now 1-3 in World Series appearances — having previously made three trips with the Houston Astros — there is little doubt that Arizona’s playoff magic would have run out earlier than it did without his deft touch in handling such an inexperienced group.
The Diamondbacks were powered by stellar performances from starters Pfaadt, Merrill Kelly and Zac Gallen, along with a parade of unheralded relievers, including Ryan Thompson, Kevin Ginkel and Andrew Saalfrank, silencing the powerful bats of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Philadelphia Phillies on their way to the National League pennant. But the pain of falling short on the sport’s biggest stage yet again kept Strom from reveling in his fourth World Series in seven years.
“It’s imperative that we realize there was some luck involved last year and we got hot at the right time,” he said. “I don’t want this to be a one-and-out type of thing.”
Using that as motivation, Strom immediately turned his focus to 2024, skipping his annual offseason trip to Europe in favor of working at a baseball clinic in Cuba and setting up Zoom calls with his pitchers to find new ways to come back even better this season.
“I’ve always gone with the idea of trial and error,” Strom said. “If it doesn’t work, we try something different. You need an open mindset and a highly competitive nature. Heard that from Tom Brady. You have to keep evolving.”
Aside from a rare mound visit gone wrong — like the one that saw Corey Seager hit a World Series Game 3 home run that helped Texas take control of the series — nowhere is Strom’s mentality on display more than when he strides out to the mound to calm a pitcher in the most anxious moments of a game, regular or postseason.
“He’s very direct,” Pfaadt said. “He’s very firm. Sometimes he’ll come out there and give you a nice squeeze on the arm, let you know it’s not a dream. He’ll say ‘I want you to do this’ and usually if you execute then you have success.”
FOUR DECADES BEFORE he was making World Series mound visits, Strom was coaching in the Dodgers system when conversations with Sandy Koufax helped crystallize the overriding principle that has shaped his career: A rising fastball is better than any sinker, even as the latter pitch was spreading across the sport.
“Koufax made me realize all we are, are controlled throwers,” Strom said. “We’re not pitchers. The best way to ruin a pitcher is to make him a pitcher. … If I get an 18-year-old Koufax, an 18-year-old [Dwight] Gooden and an 18-year-old Bob Feller, you want me to teach them sinkers? They’re born doing f—ing this.” He shot his hand out to indicate a fastball.
“As Koufax once said, do you know who throws sinkers? People that can’t throw fastballs.”
But not everyone was ready for Strom’s forward-thinking philosophy. Between 1996 and 2005, he made stops with the Astros, Kansas City Royals, San Diego Padres and Montreal Expos before finding himself completely out of the game.
Without a baseball job, Strom helped his wife open a dog grooming business in Tucson, Arizona — he had gone from discussing pitching with the best left-hander in MLB history to caring for pets.
“I was cleaning dingleberries. … That was my job,” Strom said. “I was washing dogs.”
But soon after, then-St. Louis Cardinals executive Jeff Luhnow gave Strom a chance to work with the Cardinals’ minor league pitchers — but only their minor leaguers, according to the coach. Tony La Russa and Dave Duncan had all of the say when it came to pitchers already playing in St. Louis, and they weren’t looking for differing philosophies. Duncan preached sinkers — Strom believed in rising four-seamers.
“I was not received very well by La Russa or Duncan,” Strom said. “If it was up to them, I would have been fired after a year. In fact, they told me I was only allowed to work with the kids in the Dominican or Low-A, no one higher.”
“[In one meeting] they asked if anyone knows the batting average on ground balls compared to fly balls,” he said. “The comment was made that ground balls are .233 and fly balls are .407. So I raised my hand and said, ‘Is a line drive considered a fly ball?’ They said yes. I said, ‘That’s bulls—.’ A line drive is .700. A real fly ball is .233 and a ground ball is .231.
“I got over my skis a little bit on that one.”
Though the Cardinals went in another direction after run-ins like that, Luhnow continued to believe in Strom’s message — and upon getting the GM job in Houston, he hired the then 64-year-old as the Astros’ pitching coach.
With Strom guiding one of MLB’s top pitching staffs, the Astros won the World Series in 2017 and became a perennial playoff team. But after losing in the World Series in 2021, he decided it was time to move on.
“I put a lot of pressure on myself,” Strom said. “Heaviest is the head that wears the crown. Winning in Houston became expected. I was living and dying by the whole thing.”
That’s when the Diamondbacks called, offering an appealing opportunity: a new challenge, closer to home and a chance to bring his philosophy to a new group of pitchers.
“Brent Strom brought a new glossary, a new pitching glossary,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “And he’s the architect of what we do every single day on the mound.
“There’s a fire in his belly, at 70-plus years old, that I hope we all have. The language changed immediately. The focus as to what we needed to do, pitch to pitch, batter to batter and game to game changed instantly.”
Asked what Lovullo meant by a language change, Strom reeled off a few of his favorite terms: “Top-shelf cutters. Elevated fastballs. Stay out of the honey hole.”
These were more than just buzzwords; Strom brought a philosophy that resonated with a younger group of pitchers eager to experience big league success.
“Three things impact the outcome of the game most,” Strom explained. “Win the battle of three: Throw two of the first three pitches for strikes. Secondly, eliminate or shut down the amount of hard-hit balls. And create chases. Get hitters to chase at balls.”
His pitchers nod their heads when reminded of Strom’s intense but caring attitude and point to his tireless work ethic as key to gaining their trust. Strom is seemingly always thinking about pitching, sending a middle-of-the-night message to reliever Joe Mantiply while vacationing in Europe and a Christmas Eve note to Merrill Kelly with some holiday reading material about hitters’ numbers against him on a certain pitch.
“I haven’t been around a pitching coach that works as hard as he does,” Mantiply said. “It’s nothing to get a text or email at 3 in the morning. He’s always looking for ways to get better. I don’t know if he sleeps.”
THE OCTOBER SUCCESS of Arizona and Houston under Strom has been a victory for the style he has spent so much of his career spreading. The D-backs, like the Astros before them, dominated the top of the zone last postseason.
“For my whole career, I was told [because] I don’t have velocity … make sure you throw the ball down and away, and then we realized that if you throw the ball up in the zone it’s going to work a lot better,” Arizona closer Paul Sewald said. “He’s a huge proponent of rising fastballs and sweeping sliders.”
Strom’s guidance isn’t without hiccups — Madison Bumgarner was released last year after posting a 10.26 ERA. And there’s the occasional salty moment, according to Diamondbacks pitching strategist and former major league pitcher Dan Haren.
“I can sense how things are going during a game to whether I’m going to get a text or call afterwards,” Haren said. “He’s really emotional. I’m OK with being the punching bag and then giving back info in a way we can all get better and grow from it.
“And he can be funny.”
That sense of humor perhaps was never more apparent than in Strom’s most memorable mound visit. In a game at Yankee Stadium while working for the Royals, he went to the mound to talk with pitcher Dan Reichert.
“He walked two guys in a row on eight pitches,” Strom recalled. “I didn’t know what to say to him, we need to get [Jorge] Posada out. I said, ‘Dan, you have to get him out fast.’ And he said, ‘Why?’ I said, ‘Because I have to take a s—.’ He started laughing. The catcher started laughing. I knew I had him right there. He said three or less pitches. I said make it two or less. I turned around and in front of 50,000 fans … I waddled off the mound.
“And the SOB threw a sinker for a double play. Probably my greatest mound visit ever.”
The master of mound visits, indeed. Preparing for another season of them isn’t easy but Strom is committed to 2024 and he’s still happy doing what he’s doing.
“The body will accommodate the goal that’s required,” Strom said, seemingly referring to himself as much as his pitchers. “I don’t know how much further I want to do this but there is some unfinished business here. That’s why I came back.”
For teams that aren’t playing in their conference championship games, this is it — the final chance to make a lasting impression on the College Football Playoff selection committee.
For some contenders, like Ole Miss, their regular-season résumé is now complete, and what happens in the fifth ranking on Tuesday night should be a strong indicator of their final placement on Selection Day. Others, like Miami, are banking on hope and help — and most importantly, one more win. It all began with the Egg Bowl on Friday — a game that not only kept Ole Miss in the playoff, but also technically in the SEC race.
That’s right — this thing is far from over, so check back after each game to see how the results will impact the playoff as the day unfolds.
Texas 27, Texas A&M 17
Rivalry Week presented its first shakeup of the top four when No. 16 Texas beat No. 3 Texas A&M — but it might not be all that jarring in the fifth ranking. The Aggies will likely drop to the 4-6 range behind Georgia. The Bulldogs have better wins including a 35-10 drubbing of … Texas. Georgia also has a better loss (to No. 10 Alabama), and has now clinched a spot in the SEC title game. The question is just how far Texas A&M will fall now that it has joined No. 5 Texas Tech, No. 6 Oregon and No. 7 Ole Miss in the one-loss club. The Aggies entered the weekend with a noticeable edge over Texas Tech in both strength of record (23 to 56) and strength of schedule (1 to 10). It’s possible the committee only drops the Aggies one spot, flipping them with Georgia, which means they’d still be in position to earn a first-round bye as the No. 4 seed. There would be a strong debate, though, about whether the Aggies, Texas Tech or Oregon, the latter which has impressed the committee lately by ranking in the top five in both offensive and defensive efficiency, deserves the highest seeding. The Aggies’ problem now is that they’d have to finish in the top four as an at-large team because they just got knocked out of the SEC title game.
While Texas now has arguably the best win in the country, it probably won’t be enough to catapult it into the top-10 as a three-loss team. Even with some upsets above them, it’s unlikely Texas would get higher than No. 12.
Indiana 56, Purdue 3
Indiana clinched a spot in the Big Ten championship game with its win against rival Purdue, locking in a CFP bid and beefing up its chances at keeping a first-round bye on Selection Day. The Hoosiers, who have been the committee’s No. 2 team in each of the first four rankings, still have a chance of grabbing the No. 1 spot in Tuesday’s ranking if Ohio State loses to Michigan. If the Buckeyes lose and Oregon wins Indiana will face Oregon in the Big Ten title game. If Michigan wins and Oregon loses the Hoosiers will face Michigan for the conference title.
The question is whether IU can maintain a top-four seed and a first-round bye as the Big Ten runner-up. If Indiana lost the title game, the committee would consider where their opponent was ranked and how close the game was. The Hoosiers would also be compared with other top one-loss teams, but playing a ranked opponent in the conference championship game — win or lose — would boost IU’s record strength by the committee’s metric.
Georgia 16, Georgia Tech 9
Georgia should keep its place as the committee’s top one-loss team following its win against rival Georgia Tech. Georgia’s Oct. 18 win against Ole Miss, along with their win at Tennessee and drubbing of Texas, impressed the committee. The Bulldogs’ consistency on offense and defense has also played well with the committee. Georgia’s first-round bye would only be in question at this point if it finishes as a two-loss SEC runner-up.
Barring an unusual combination of ACC results, No. 23 Georgia Tech will be out of the playoff at 9-3. The only way the Yellow Jackets can extend their playoff hope is through the ACC championship game. They entered the weekend with a 1.5% chance of making the game, according to ESPN Analytics.
Ole Miss 38, Mississippi State 19
With its win against rival Mississippi State on Friday, Ole Miss likely locked up a playoff spot and remains in a strong position to host a first-round home game. If Alabama loses to Auburn on Saturday, Ole Miss will clinch a spot in the SEC championship game. Even if it doesn’t, though, the one-loss Rebels should still be a CFP lock.
As for the uncertainty still looming around coach Lane Kiffin, if Ole Miss turns to an interim head coach for the playoff, the selection committee could consider that. CFP protocol states the group will consider “other relevant factors such as unavailability of key players and coaches that may have affected a team’s performance during the season or likely will affect its postseason performance.” Ole Miss won’t miss the playoff because Kiffin left for another job, but it could get dinged a spot or two if the committee thinks the team won’t be the same without him.
Utah 31, Kansas 21
No. 13 Utah punctuated its résumé with a win against 5-7 Kansas, but it’s still unlikely to reach the playoff without multiple upsets of teams above it — especially after just being leapfrogged by No. 12 Miami in the latest CFP ranking. Even with a win, to reach the Big 12 championship game, Utah still needs Texas Tech to lose and for both BYU and Arizona State to win. The Utes’ best hope to reach the CFP is still as an at-large team.
Getting that bid isn’t inconceivable if a combination of two-loss teams above them lose. If Oklahoma, Alabama and Miami lose, it would be difficult for any of them to stay in the top 12 as three-loss teams. Utah would need at least two of them to lose to move into the top 10, which is where it would need to be to actually be seeded in the field. The No. 11 and No. 12 teams this year will be excluded during the seeding process to make room for the fourth- and fifth-highest ranked conference champions.
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Mark Schlabach
STARKVILLE, Miss. — Lane Kiffin said he’ll decide Saturday whether he will return as Ole Miss‘ coach in 2026 or take another job, presumably at LSU, which is trying to poach him from its SEC rival with a lucrative contract offer that will make him one of the highest-paid coaches in college football.
Kiffin, while speaking to reporters after the No. 7 Rebels’ 38-19 victory at Mississippi State in Friday’s Egg Bowl at Davis Wade Stadium, would only say that he’ll have to make a decision one way or the other, after Ole Miss athletics director Keith Carter and chancellor Glenn Boyce said they needed an answer by Saturday.
“I feel like I’ve got to,” Kiffin said.
When Kiffin was asked if he had made up his mind about where he’ll be coaching next season, he said, “Yeah, I haven’t. Maybe that surprises you. But, you know, I’ve got to do some praying and figure this thing out.”
Kiffin said he planned to attend his son’s high school playoff game in Tupelo, Mississippi, on Friday night. Knox Kiffin is Oxford High’s starting quarterback.
“Tonight, I’m going to go be a dad and watch a more important game to me,” Kiffin said.
Kiffin wasn’t sure what time he would make a decision Saturday.
“There’s a lot [that goes] into it,” Kiffin said. “It’s a hard decision. You guys have them all the time. You’ve got to make decisions about jobs you take and where you move, and we get paid a lot so I understand we’re under a lot of spotlight and scrutiny.”
Kiffin said he regretted not being able to speak to his father, Monte Kiffin, while trying to make one of the most important decisions of his career. The longtime NFL defensive coordinator died in July 2024. He was 84.
Kiffin, 50, has sought the advice of former Alabama coach Nick Saban and Las Vegas Raiders coach Pete Carroll, his former boss at USC, the past few weeks.
ESPN reported earlier Friday that Florida, which was also courting Kiffin, is now focused on other candidates in its search because the Gators believe he’s more interested in other opportunities.
Carter and Boyce met with Kiffin a week ago in Oxford, Mississippi, and the sides came to an understanding that Kiffin would make up his mind the day after the Egg Bowl.
If the Egg Bowl was Kiffin’s last game as Ole Miss’ coach, it was a fitting end to one of the most successful tenures in school history.
As speculation about Kiffin’s future continued to swirl over the past two weeks, the Rebels rolled past their rivals for their fifth win in the past six meetings in the heated series. The Rebels had 545 yards of offense, as quarterback Trinidad Chambliss passed for 359 yards with four touchdowns.
The Rebels (11-1, 7-1 SEC) all but secured a spot in the 12-team College Football Playoff. They’ll have to wait another day to find out whether they’ll play in next week’s SEC championship game in Atlanta.
No. 3 Texas A&M would have to fall at No. 16 Texas on Friday night (7:30 p.m. ET, ABC) and No. 10 Alabama would have to lose at Auburn in Saturday’s Iron Bowl (7:30 p.m. ET/ABC) for the Rebels to clinch a spot in the SEC championship game.
And, of course, Ole Miss fans will be waiting Saturday to find out which coaches will be on the sideline for the CFP, which might begin with a first-round game at home on Dec. 19 or 20.
If Kiffin decides to leave for LSU, former New York Giants coach Joe Judge would likely serve as the Rebels’ interim coach in the CFP, sources told ESPN.
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