Update: Due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, 黑莓视频 Athletics announced on March 15 that it would cancel all remaining spring competition and team activity. For more details on this announcement, visit .
The grass is cut, the chalk lines are down and the bases are freshly painted. It鈥檚 baseball season at Biola and the beginning of a new era. The 2020 season is Biola baseball鈥檚 first year under new head coach Jeff Calhoon and the first time Biola is eligible for NCAA Division II postseason play.
We sat down with Calhoon 鈥 a former Division I player with several years of successful coaching experience at other Southern California universities 鈥 to catch up on his first few months and get a gauge on the future of baseball at Biola.
What are you most looking forward to this year?
I am excited to be able to make a difference in our players鈥 lives. I鈥檝e been around really good programs and have seen the way things are done at a really high level. For me it鈥檚 been just prioritizing that our guys know they are cared for and loved on. That鈥檚 priority number one.
What drew you to Biola?
The transition to NCAA Division II wrapping up was a huge part of it. Being able to work again at a Christian college is huge to me. We鈥檙e in a great conference, in a great region and there鈥檚 an opportunity to go win. There鈥檚 a history of winning here. In the late 鈥90s, early 2000s, there were a lot of wins. We鈥檙e trying to get back to getting that type of baseball presented again.
What鈥檚 been your impression of Biola so far?
I love it here. We were at the [American Baseball Coaches Association] convention and that was the question I was asked by everybody. I told them all how this place is unbelievable. The way you feel the faith on this campus is in the way you鈥檙e treated. You can genuinely feel the love of Christ in people on our campus. There are people who really want to talk with you, care for you, pray for you and make sure you鈥檙e doing OK. That鈥檚 been stunning for me.
At Biola, our mission is to help our student-athletes 鈥淩each New Heights鈥 athletically, academically and spiritually. How is that built into your program?
We challenge our guys a lot. We have a dress code. We talk about 鈥渇our for 40,鈥 which means what we are trying to teach them now is going to affect them for the next 40 years. We talk about being 1% better every day. It鈥檚 about constantly getting a little bit better at everything we do. That doesn鈥檛 mean getting better at fielding a ground ball every day. It might be getting better at starting their day in the Word. It might be getting better with their sleeping habits or treating people better. It鈥檚 a real holistic approach to making sure our guys get 1% better every day.
What would make this year a success?
We talk a lot about being able to compete to go to a national championship. That鈥檚 the opportunity this team has. They鈥檙e the first team at Biola to have that opportunity at the NCAA Division II level. This group gets to set the foundation for the legacy of Biola baseball at the NCAA Division II level. They do not take that lightly.
What鈥檚 the potential of this team? What do you want to accomplish?
In the long-term, the way our assistant coaches recruit is at such a high level that the players we鈥檙e trying to bring in are guys who fit the mold of the university. They are Christ-centered kids with a lot of talent. They are guys who want to go work their tails off and win a national championship. Those are the kind of guys coming down the pike, and we鈥檙e really excited about that and think we鈥檙e going to be very good in the future.
Interview by Neil Morgan
Photo by Austin Prock