“We’re not a baseball team at a college. This is a program.”
-Joe Brown
Or at least that’s how head coach Joe Brown sees Cortland baseball.
Over the last three decades, SUNY Cortland baseball has had great success. They’ve made the NCAA tournament every single year since 1993, and in 2015, they won the team’s first ever national championship. And while Brown’s hiring in 1993 and promotion to head coach in 2000 seems to be a common denominator here, he prefers not to attribute the team’s prosperity to himself.
The Program
“This is a program that won’t settle for a loss or losing one game in a series. This is a program that has been a winning program for years. We aren’t just some team playing for a conference title. As part of the Cortland baseball program, we set our standards a lot higher.”
-Chris Bonacci
Instilled in every Cortland baseball player from day one is the fact that they are a part of a program, and that everything they do is to benefit that program.
“Everything we do at Cortland baseball—these kids are told in the first week they come here, they’re told when I recruit them—every decision we make here is what’s in the best interest of the program,” said Brown. “Every decision made whether you play on that weekend, whether you travel that weekend, whether you’re making the team the next year, every decision is made in what’s the best interest of the program. Not what’s in the best interest of the individual, not what’s in the best interest for that family, but what’s in the best interest of the program.”
A player’s success in Cortland baseball is in large part thanks to this program. Without it, players wouldn’t have the resources and opportunities to build themselves into the players they become, eventually becoming alumni of the program and giving back to it.
“We are a program here at Cortland,” said outfielder and captain Mat Bruno. “This stems from our administration, our amazing alumni, and all of the players who have come before us. We are nothing without the accomplishments of our former players, and the opportunities that our alumni provide for us.”
Bruno isn’t alone in understanding the importance of the program. Everyone on the team knows what it means to be a part of it.
“If I bring a player in right now, and I look at him and go ‘Every decision at Cortland’s made in what?’ and they go ‘best interest of the program,’” said Brown. “Every player knows that. So there’s no gray line there.”
The alumni are such an important part of the program. Cortland baseball wouldn’t be a program if none of their players did anything after leaving the school. The program isn’t contained just within the active players for the school; Instead it heavily depends on these players long after they’ve graduated and left the team.
“This is a program that has wide ranging alumni that are incredibly successful,” said Brown. “And the success of this program has very little to do with me other than environment we create, and everything to do with good players.”
A team also can’t be referred to as a program, however, if their success is brief or sporadic. That’s why Cortland baseball’s continual success is so important: they’re consistent.
“That’s what we try to be: consistent,” said Brown. “Our three tenets are consistent, dependable, and reliable. We want consistent, dependable, and reliable student athletes.”
And those student athletes are the final, and most important, piece of what makes up this program. Brown believes that the program would still have great success under a different coach because of how strong their players are.
“It’s like, you know, we’re all replaceable, man,” said Brown. “And that’s why I’ve always joked with Fran [Elia] or with any coach that I think [Bill] Bellicheck said it best when, after post-games, whether they win, or mostly after they win one, you know, they talked to him and he goes, ‘Well, no, no, I coach, they play. Good thing I haven’t played because I’m 70.”
The Coach
“I wish our current players could have seen me play one game. I do. I think they would understand now how crazy I am when I coach.”
-Joe Brown
As much as the program that Cortland baseball has created has been a key factor in the team’s success, there’s no denying Coach Brown’s influence over the last 30 years. If the team’s record over that time isn’t enough of an indicator, Brown has an abundance of Coach of the Year awards, plus a Coach of the Decade award, to his name that can speak to his impact.
Hired as an assistant coach in 1993 and promoted to head coach in 2000, Brown has had an incredible 30 year stretch. He has the best winning percentage of any active NCAA coach in the nation at any level with at least ten years coaching. Cortland’s 30 straight seasons reaching the NCAA tournament is a Division III record, and is the longest active streak at any NCAA level. But with all of this success, he doesn’t let the numbers distract him.
“I don’t read them [the stats],” said Brown. “And I don’t look. I don’t have my personal social media. I don’t have a personal Twitter. I don’t have a personal Instagram. And I don’t have Facebook.”
Brown is always focused on the next game. Whether it’s baseball season or the offseason, a game day or an off day, he’s always preparing.
“Coach Brown is different from every other Coach simply because of his passion for the game/program,” said Bruno. “When everyone else is sleeping, he is preparing for our next opponent, or finding a new opportunity for our team. He truly cares about the Cortland baseball program, and his dedication to improving it is why we are successful year after year.”
Brown recognizes the importance of always looking ahead. Using today’s mistakes as a lesson for tomorrow’s game is something that is integral to his coaching style.
“That’s called the Monday morning quarterback, which is the ability to have hindsight,” said Brown. “One thing I have learned as I coach longer is you never lose a game you coach the next day. Because you would never have made that decision. But that’s why you’re right and that’s why you’re wrong.”
When attributing the program to the team’s success, Brown takes credit only for creating an environment.
“Coaches create environments, you create structure, you create plans, some are good, some are bad, sometimes you’re right, sometimes you’re wrong,” said Brown.
The players, however, certainly recognize how integral Brown’s coaching is to their success, whether that be individual or as a team.
“He’s going to be hard on you because he expects the best from you all the time” said outfielder Chris Bonacci. “He’ll get on you for things and sometimes you just need to take it and listen to what he has to say. He’s coached in thousands of games and played college baseball, so he knows a lot about the sport.”
Brown is certainly aware of this narrative regarding his coaching style.
“It is hard to coach kids hard,” said Brown. “It’s hard to coach kids hard right now. I’m fortunate that I’m permitted to do that here. But it’s respectful.”
Aside from doing everything in the “best interest of the program,” Brown has also instilled some more wisdom and advice in his players for them to carry throughout their careers.
“I will take away countless life messages that Coach Brown emphasizes,” said Bruno. “Not only does service over self matter, but it is also the driving factor behind our purpose in life. When you give to something greater than yourself, you are putting the needs of others above your own. One message that I love from Coach is, ‘Have you found the joy in your life, and have you brought joy to others?’ This message has always stuck with me, and it is one of the many messages Coach sends to his team.”
While his main focus is shaping his athletes as baseball players, Brown does realize that he is able to reinforce personal values as a coach as well. Baseball may be his priority, but it’s very important to him that his players have strong personal character too.
“I try to mirror what the parents believe in,” said Brown. “And I think we all believe in the same thing, that they want their kids to be accountable. And as a coach, you can reinforce that. I tell them I’m going to challenge your baseball character, but your personal character is Mom and Dad. I’m not going to do that. But I do believe the parents trust me. I do. They trust me to reinforce what they believe in. You know, not to be a jerk to another team, to be disrespectful to an umpire, disrespectful to your teammates.”
Brown understands the responsibility he has to uphold the values of the Cortland baseball program. While he claims that he isn’t the reason for the team’s success, he is tasked with making sure the program continues to run as it should in a way that players and the team can continue to benefit from it.
“As a coach, it’s your job,” said Brown. “You sleep in the bed you make.… I will never compromise.”
In his 24 years as head coach, Brown has impacted the playing careers of countless athletes. He’s had 34 All American selections on his teams, and 22 of his players have gone on to play baseball at the professional level.
“Coach Brown has shaped my development as a player tremendously,” said Bruno. “I came here as a raw player with tremendous potential, and he was able to bring that potential out of me. Not only that, but he has shaped my knowledge of the game more than anyone can imagine. Without him, I would not be the player I am today.”
Brown tells a story to his players from his own college baseball days at Ithaca College to remind them of the kind of work that they should be putting into this program.
“The year we won the national championship—I didn’t play much my freshman year because it was tough to play your freshman year,” said Brown. “Sophomore year I started, I won the starting job. But about ten, twelve games in, I started making errors, throwing errors. And I was a sophomore starting over seniors, so the coach on a weekend gave the senior a chance to play, and he went off and had six, seven hits. You were done as a player, but you had to keep practicing meaning that kid now earned his opportunity, so he’s gonna keep playing. You as a player never went to the coach and said ‘Why am I not playing anymore?’ No, no, that kid performed and you didn’t and you accepted that but you kept working hard in practice. The captain on the team that year, my sophomore year, said, ‘How you act from this point going forward will determine your status in this program.’”
That story is used to motivate players, but he also realizes that slumps can happen. Baseball can be an unpredictable sport, and being hot one day doesn’t mean that it will continue into the next, something he also learned from personal experience.
“High before the low in one week,” said Brown. “It happens in baseball. Aaron Judge can go 0-4 with 4 Ks and the next day he hits two home runs. That’s just baseball.”
No matter how much of Cortland baseball’s success over the last three decades is because of the program, Joe Brown’s contribution to the team cannot be overstated. In 24 years as head coach, he has left an incredible impact on all of the players that have come through the program, and his tenure as head coach will not soon be forgotten.