photograph: Angilo Allen/Kansas Athletics
On Saturday, May 4th, 2024, Kansas infielder Chase Diggins claps his hands with assistant coach/recruit coordinator John Coyne during his match against Kansas State in Manhattan.
John Coyne, who graduated from college and worked as a volunteer assistant on a baseball team that no longer existed, slept on the floor of his office.
Coin was paranoid as he was sleeping too much at the 5am alarm to prepare a Texas Pan American field. He soon realized that when the spider raw across the floor, he himself scared him half when he himself scared him.
At that moment, it broke, and on the floor of his office, Coin thought, “God, can I really do this?”
Thirteen years later, Coyne established herself as an assistant coach and recruitment coordinator at the University of Kansas, and with each of her three-year staff members, she has helped recruit classes at the country’s number one junior college.
“I still remember the day vividly,” Coyne said. “These are days, you look back and thank you for passing through the grind.
Coyne always flies to text phones and meet with commits and recruits while flying.
“I really enjoy working every day,” Coyne said. “I know it sounds cliché, but I love what I do.”
These phones and flights have stayed at Marriott Hotels 158 times in two and a half years, all totaling annually for coins, for recruitment.
“I’m happy to be single on that travel schedule,” Coyne joked.
But travel doesn’t bother you with coins. He bows his head and sticks to his job and does not stop hiring. He spends a long day and helps out fellow coaches on the staff led by coach Dan Fitzgerald.
Coin is busy with other obligations to the success of the team because other coaches are incompetent.
His way of doing things is very simple. When recruiting, he creates a calendar of all tournaments that other coaches need to attend over the summer. He will give you all the details, date, time and location. The only decision a coach has to make is when each player is good enough to wear a J-Hawk jersey.
Coyne does this using Google Docs and Sheets for each particular coach. He prints them and has accurate instructions as to where they need to stand at a certain time to see the recruit.
“It’s really fun to adjust when the game moves and it rains,” Coyne said. “These are some of the recruitment jobs I really have to be good at.”
When you are a recruitment coordinator, you need to understand that you are not going to get commitments from all recruits you have contacted, and the coin is the most challenging part of his job to secure that commitment. I admitted that.
“It’s very easy to identify a good player,” Coyne said. “The most difficult thing is to have your child commit to you.”
According to Coyne, it’s people’s business. The ability to build meaningful relationships with players, their families and coaches is important to attract commitments.
“I think someone needs to really enjoy it to be a good recruiting coordinator,” Coyne said. “It needs to be in their DNA.”
With his almost constant trip as recruiting coordinator, Coyne misses practice during the season, but Coyne’s rookie caught by the Texas Rangers in the 14th round of the 2024 MLB draft, Ben Hartle, was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 14th round, and he was the one to say. He said he was always able to feel his presence.
“It’s always good to have a guy like him in your corner,” Hartle said. “I wouldn’t be where I am without a guy like John Coyne.”
26 players recruited and coached by Coyne were selected in the MLB draft of his career.
Right-handed pitcher Hunter Clanton is another of the coin success stories. Cranton was the third selection in last year’s draft by the Seattle Mariners, and this year he is taking part in spring training as a non-roster invitee. Clanton said Coyne is one of his greatest coaches ever.
“During my recruitment process, he was not only a great resource, but he was a really great person who wanted the best for me and the rest of his recruiting,” Clanton said. “After one call, we felt like we were longtime friends.”
Coyne’s role at KU is far from what he deals with at Cisco College. During his stay in the same position, he was tasked with preparing the field, simultaneously serving as academic advisor and strength coach.
Recruitment coordinators weren’t the path Coyne had hoped to graduate from college. But as a Texas Bread-American and volunteer assistant he slept on the floor – and after spending his time in Wichita, Cisco offered him a job, and the coin thrusts into the position. His tenacity, sticking to it throughout the tough times, allowed him to climb the ladder to Kansas, paying dividends to him, KU baseball, and many players he comes into contact with.
