Matt Lykins walks towards his Talawanda High School classroom when a student holding a large bag full of baseball equipment approaches him in the hallway.
“Hey coach, can I leave this in here?” the student asks.
“Sure thing, you can always leave your stuff in here,” Lykins replies.
Lykins enters his classroom and immediately spots a few of his baseball players hanging out.
“It smells like freshmen in here,” Lykins jokes.
It’s a familiar scene as Lykins’ door is always open to his players. But coaching baseball wasn’t part of his plan when he became an English teacher at Talawanda High School 23 years ago.
“I made the pact that I would never coach when I started teaching because the workload for English would be so profound,” Lykins said.
Change of Heart
However, Lykins, a former high school baseball player, had a change of heart. In 2014, the then-varsity head coach was looking for assistants. Lykins took the job and worked his way up the coaching ladder until he became the head of the varsity program in 2019.
As Lykins expected, juggling the classroom and field demands was challenging. Lykins arrives at the school around 5 a.m. for practice. When classes are not in session, he can be found running buckets of baseballs or raking the field.
Rain or Shine
It’s been raining in Oxford since the sun came up. Heavy downpours can jeopardize a baseball practice, but not at Talawanda High School.
Lykins’ desk is crowded with not only a stack of school assignments but also the practice itinerary for the day. That morning, he developed different types of practice plans based on the weather forecast.
If the rain stops before practice, the team will do doubles, cuts and relays on the field. But if not, the team will do bunt coverages in the gym.
“I knew I wanted to cover both this week,” Lykins said. “And I also know we will probably have some field time later in the week, so we can do cuts then, so I moved that back.”
Lykins manages practice like he does in the classroom: Preparation is key.
“When I realized that practice is just another prep and I plan it like a lesson where I have overarching goals and I’m constantly circling back, and I’m looking at my learning targets as we go and then we’re grading on them,” Lykins said. “It’s the same as a classroom. It’s a learning experience.”
Teacher-Coach
This year, Lykins has a freshman in a class who he had no idea played baseball. He recalls the student at the beginning of the year as “moody” and “not wanting to work.” But Lykins credits the student’s joining the team for making him “willing to talk” and improving his grades.
“I think it’s just him seeing me in a different light and me seeing him in a different light,” Lykins said.
Lykins has found a formula that he believes works both on the field and in the classroom.
“Regardless of the amount that I instruct, encourage, warn, threaten, it all comes down to the individual to make that choice and then be able to execute,” Lykins said. “And if everyone does that, then the whole team moves forward. That’s something that I do in that classroom that informs my coaching.”
Open Communication
Many of Lykins’ current players, including junior Nathaniel Iden, once sat in his freshman English class. They appreciate how Lykins understands them as he would any student.
“I’ve experienced a lot of coaches where it’s their way or no way,” the 2023 Second Team Southwest Ohio Conference (SWOC) performer said. “He’s just not like that. We identify the problem, and we fix the problem. He’s not in your face ever.”
The rain didn’t stop during practice. But Lykins was ready. The team moved to the gym to prepare for its home opener on March 30 against Lebanon.
