Larry Vucan Summary of Coaching Achievements

Back-to-back state Class 6A Texas high school state champion head coach

Led South Lake Carroll to 2018 and 2019 state titles

Three consecutive trips to the Final 4 in three years as head coach

El Paso native, Eastwood graduate, former Franklin head coach

Named Dallas/Ft. Worth High School Coach of the Year 2017 and 2019

Coached at Franklin High School leading the Cougars to multiple Texas high school state playoff appearances

Assistant Coach at Bel Air High School Bi-District Champions ’95, ’97,’98, ‘99, ‘01

Played professionally and managed in Italian Baseball League in Trieste,

Scholarship player New Mexico Highlands University .284 hitter

Eastwood baseball and basketball player under Hall of Fame coach Bobby Lesley

Began El Paso baseball playing career in Hirby Baseball Program coached by El Paso Baseball Hall of Fame Honoree Coach Larry Hernandez

Blessed to have his most visible, most vocal and most unconditional support from his wife Christina and son Jordan

South Lake Carroll head baseball coach

2017 State Final Four appearance (lost to Deer Park in semi-finals)

2018 State 6A Champion with win over San Antonio Reagan

2019 State 6A Champion with win over Fort Bed Ridge Point

Overall coaching record at South Lake Carroll 101-30

Chosen to speak at the 2021 American Baseball Association (ABCA) national convention

(Flown to ABCA headquarters in Greensboro, NC to present virtual presentation)

LARRY N. VUCAN Detailed Resume

TEACHING ACCOMPLISHMENTS

 World History PLC leader at Northwest High School – 2011  Taught English to Middle school level Italian Children in Trieste, Italy at British School of Italy in 1996  Runner-up Teacher of the Year (2016) Southlake Carroll Senior HS  Member of Bel Air High School staff that received National Blue-Ribbon award in 2000  Have successfully taught Pre-AP or AP in World Geography, World History, US History, Government, Economics and Psychology.

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS

 Served four years on the PAC-10 conference hospitality committee for the Sun Bowl.  Active member of the ABCA (American Baseball Coaches Association) since 1995.  Active member of the THSBCA (Texas HS Baseball Coaches Association) since 1995.  Active member of the THSCA (Texas HS Coaches Association) since 2006.  Served on the Board of Directors for the Frank Manning Little League 2008-2010.

COLLEGE / EXPERIENCE / ACCOMPLISHMENTS

 Hired as manager of Tergeste BC in the Italian Baseball League in 1996.  Played for three Professional Baseball Organizations in the Italian League  Bench coach for the El Paso Diablos Club from 2005-2006.  Chosen as a member of a collection of U.S. All-Stars to play exhibition schedule against Olympic qualifiers prior to 1992 Olympics.  Played four years at New Mexico Highlands University.  Led Carroll HS to 2017 Final Four in Round Rock, TX.

SELECTED COACHING ACCOMPLISHMENTS  Named Dallas Morning News High School Baseball Coach of the Year 2017 and 2019  Head Coach of the 2019 State 6A State Baseball Champions  Highlighted in Collegiate Baseball Newspaper October 4th edition, “Remarkable Battle Plan.”  Head Coach of the 2018 State 6A State Baseball Champions  Led 2017 Carroll Senior HS team to Final Four in Round Rock, TX  Member of Coaching Staff at Carroll Senior HS that won four consecutive Lone Cup Championships.  Pitching coach at Carroll Senior HS that reached the Regional Finals of the 2012, 2013 Texas State Playoffs as well as the Regional Semi-Finals in 2014 and 2015  Member of the Carroll Dragon Cross Country coaching staff that won State Championships in three consecutive years. (2012-2014)  Guided El Paso Franklin to six straight Texas Baseball State Playoff appearances.  Guided El Paso Franklin to Regional Quarterfinal round of the 2007 Texas State Playoffs.  Guided El Paso Franklin to Bi-District Championships in 2006, 2007 and 2008.  Assistant Coach at El Paso Bel Air which qualified for six consecutive Texas State Playoff appearances.  Name Head Varsity Soccer Coach in 1993 at El Paso High School  Guided El Paso High School Varsity Soccer to Texas State Playoffs in first year as Head Coach.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

CARROLL SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL – Southlake, Texas 2016-Present

AP Psychology Instructor / Head Baseball Coach Provide 1:1 and group coaching in managing a Program with five teams and over 105 players using positive psychology approach to leverage strengths. Coordinating 7 assistant coaches and designing and facilitating training and developmental material to staff across two facilities. In charge of evaluating student-athletes strengths and weaknesses and preparing each player to reach their full potential on and off the field.

CARROLL SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL – Southlake, Texas 2011-2016 AP Psychology Instructor / Pitching Coach / Assistant Cross-Country Coach Assisted Carroll Head Coach Larry Hughes in the day-to-day operations of the Southlake Carroll Baseball Program while assuming and coordinating pitching protocols for the entire program with over 90 players.

NORTHWEST HIGH SCHOOL – Justin, Texas 2010-2011 Social Studies Instructor / Pitching Coach / Assistant Football Coach Assisted Northwest Head Baseball Coach Stan Gideon in the day-to-day operations of the Northwest Baseball Program while assuming the Pitching Coach Responsibilities for the entire program.

FRANKLIN HIGH SCHOOL – El Paso, Texas 2002-2010 Social Studies Instructor / Head Baseball Coach Analyzed and prepared baseball budget for each of the eight years as Head Coach. Created and built strong relationships within the community and feeder pattern schools, as well as the youth organizations in the area. Hired and evaluated assistant coaches; created strong relationships with parents and booster club. Created relationships within the professional coaching associations to better enhance program recognition and create ties with college coaches to help further the educational opportunities of the student-athletes who come through our program. Developed lesson plans for Pre-AP World Geography and AP World History. Responsible for performance and motivation of student/athletes on the field as well as in the classroom.

BEL AIR HIGH SCHOOL – El Paso, Texas 1995-2002 Social Studies Instructor / Assistant Baseball Coach / Assistant Football Coach Developed lesson plans in World Geography, Economics, and US Government. Assessed student abilities and evaluated performance. Conducted parent-teacher conferences to provide a communication link between parent and student. Created year-round pitching program to develop the strongest, most injury-resistant arms we could. Created and monitored pitching loads of each pitcher in our program along with individualized goals and routines.

TERGESTE B.C. – Trieste, Italy 1996 Manager Tergeste Baseball Club Hired to manage team in Series A2 League of Northern Division in FIBS. Responsible for hiring of coaching staff and evaluating talent in our minor league affiliates and developing youth leagues in the city of Trieste and Opicina. Expected to develop strong relationships between organization and the city. Accountable for progress to General manager and ownership.

CASTIONS B.C. – Castions Della Mura, Italy 1994

Baseball Player

EL PASO HIGH SCHOOL – El Paso, Texas 1993-1994 Social Studies Instructor / Head Men’ Soccer Coach Responsible for creating practice schedules, ordering of equipment, fundraising, and eligibility of student/athletes in the soccer program. Accountable for creating a positive relationship with parents and the community. Developed lesson plans in AP Government and AP Economics.

VERONA B.C. – , Italy 1992 Baseball Player

TERGESTE B.C. – Trieste, Italy 1990-1991 Baseball Player

FRANKLIN BASEBALL CAREER RECORD LOG COACH VUCAN

YEAR OVERALL PRE-DISTRICT DISTRICT PLAYOFFS

2003 15 – 11 7 – 5 8 – 6 NONE

2004 14 – 12 – 1 8 – 2 – 1 6 – 10 NONE

2005 11 – 17 6 – 8 5 - 9 NONE

2006 24 – 6 12 – 0 10 – 4 2 – 2 (Bi-Dsitrict Champs)

2007 28 - 9 9 – 4 14 – 2 5 – 3 (District/Bi-District/Area Champions)

2008 23 – 11 - 1 9 – 9 - 1 14 – 2 3 -2 (Bi-District Champions)

2009 21 – 12 9 – 8 12 – 4 1 -2

2010 25-9 11-4 13-3 1-2 ------

OVERALL RECORD (2003-2009)

OVERALL PRE-DISTRICT DISTRICT PLAYOFFS WIN PCT.

161 – 87 – 2 71 – 40 – 2 82 – 40 12 – 11 .540

Larry Vucan Carroll H.S. (TX) By LOU PAVLOVICH, JR. Editor/Collegiate Baseball STILLWATER, Okla. —

By LOU PAVLOVICH, JR. Editor/Collegiate Baseball SOUTHLAKE, Tex. — One of the best high school coaches in the nation is Larry Vucan of Carroll High School (Southlake, Tex.). He has an incredible system that has allowed the Dragons to win back-to- back 6A state championships during the 2018 and 2019 seasons in Texas. In 2018, it wasn’t a surprise to see Carroll win the state title with a team loaded with 22 seniors. But 2019 was a shock. Only one sophomore starter returned from the state championship team, and 22 seniors had graduated. The Dragons started the season 1-6 and had a 6-game losing streak after an opening day win. The season began in San Jose, Calif. as the Dragons played their first five games against top California teams such as Orange Lutheran and Valley Christian. Instead of using his best players in each game, Vucan felt the wisest course of action was to utilize two completely different starting lineups with completely different players to see which athletes competed the best. Once Carroll High got back to Texas, they suffered two more losses. Then the magic began as Vucan settled on a starting lineup and pitching rotation which allowed the Dragons to post a 32-5 record the rest of the way and win 18 straight games to close the 2019 season. Carroll High destroyed Fort Bend Ridge Point, 17-0 in five innings to win the state title game to put an exclamation point on the season. It was one of the most amazing coaching jobs and comebacks in Texas high school history as the team kept getting better and better through the season. The most noteworthy win of the season was against eventual national champion Argyle H.S. which posted a 40-1-1 record last season as they captured the Texas 4A championship. Argyle finished with 28 straight wins and have only lost once in the last 79 games over the past two seasons. That lone loss was to Carroll High, 11-1 as the Dragons run ruled Argyle in six innings. “It was a magical season,” said Vucan. “We knew we had a big rebuilding job to do going into the 2019 season with the loss of 22 seniors from the previous year and all of our starters except one sophomore shortstop who was coming back. “To compound our problem, we started the season in San Jose Calif. against some outstanding California teams, including nationally ranked teams such as Valley Christian and Orange Lutheran. “Since we were just starting our season, I wanted to play a different nine in each game even though it would undoubtedly put us at a competitive disadvantage and get us beat. We came out of the California tournament 1-4. Then we lost two more games when we got back home at a tournament in Dallas and stood at 1-6 to start the season. “Then the season turned around with some big wins after that as we improved throughout the season and ultimately won our second straight state title on the highest level in Texas. That had never been done before at our school in baseball. “Our biggest win in the Texas state playoffs was against Keller High, the pre-season pick to win it all. They had everybody coming back off a Regional semi-final team. We played at their place and were down 5-2 heading into the top of the seventh inning. “We came back to tie it and ultimately win it in the 10th inning. That was a huge pivot point for us.” Carroll High went through the playoffs unbeaten and has now won 22 consecutive Texas state tournament games and is 27-2 over the last three years which is astounding when you look at the quality of competition they have played. The Dragons finished 33-11 last season and hit .309 with 87 stolen bases. The pitching staff had a 2.31 ERA with 310 strikeouts and 141 walks. Community Involvement “One of the secrets to our success is the amazing community of Southlake,” said Vucan, who just finished his 27th year of coaching baseball and third at Carroll High. “We have four elementary schools, two middle schools and our high schools (9th and 10th grade campus and the 11th and 12th grade campus). “We are a one horse town as far as schools in Southlake which all feed into Carroll High School. Every one of these schools have the Dragon as the school mascot logo and have the colors of green and black. “So there is no confusion when kids grow up in this community. They are Dragons. “I went to a middle school that had a different name than my high school. My elementary school had a different mascot logo and different colors. Because of this unique situation where all the kids are Dragons in our community, people in town have great pride in the great tradition the high school has. “Our football program has won eight state titles while our swimming program has won 10 titles. So baseball isn’t the only athletic program doing well at Carroll High. “This all feeds into the idea that community is first. We have a Dragon youth baseball league in town. Every team from T-ball to coaches pitch on up, the dragon logo is on each team with the green and black colors. There may be 40 or more youth baseball teams in town. “The tradition of excellence in baseball is so strong that the kids don’t want to let you down. That’s what came into play last season.” Vucan said that once a year, a celebration of future, current and past baseball players take place. “We call it ‘Dragon Palooza’ which is a special day around here. There is a day during the season where Little League opens up, and all 107 of our high school players come out and are involved in a celebration of young Dragon players. “Then we end it with an alumni game. So we essentially have our future with our little ones, the present with our freshmen-seniors and then combine it with our past with alumni. “You have close to 400-500 Dragon baseball people out there. That brings a special connection to the community.” 5 Teams At High School In the past, Carroll High had five baseball teams (2 freshmen, 2 junior varsity and 1 varsity). “Because of other high schools around us going to four or three overall teams in baseball, our district decided to reduce the number of baseball teams we have to four starting in 2020,” said Vucan. “Baseball is extremely popular in our community. To give you an idea, we had close to 100 kids who wanted to be in our baseball class for the fall which we have four coaches involved with. We ultimately had to trim the number down to 67-70 who could attend this class which includes freshmen through seniors and doesn’t even include athletes who want to play baseball from football, basketball or wrestling.” Vucan said that each player who was cut was talked to individually to explain what they must work on for the next few months before January tryouts for the four teams take place. “The kids play fall ball on their own. Carroll High only offers the baseball class during the fall which is impossible to have everyone attend.” Incredible System The system Vucan utilizes has come through 27 years of coaching and studying everything he can about the game of baseball. “I have a rating system in place and utilize the categories that are the most important for us. We put a premium and emphasis on base running,” said Vucan. “We start every practice with base running. And we spend a tremendous amount of time on all facets of stealing. We spend a lot of time on jump leads, and our players see a lot of film on jump leads. We also talk a lot about onbase percentage. We want plate discipline with our hitters. We want our hitters to get to first base whether it is by a hit, walk or hit-bypitch. Working counts is crucial in our system as we ultimately get into the other team’s bullpen pitchers. “No matter how we get on first base, we are going to steal second. Then we will steal third as well. “When you have an outstanding running game, it helps the hitting game as well. If we are known as a base stealing team, opponents will throw more fastballs which our hitters feast on. Ninety percent of teams in high school have their coaches call pitches. If they want to control the running game of an opponent, more fastballs will be thrown. “Our players do a lot of speed training and do a lot of universal lifts so they are explosive. We are different with our primary lead. It is a walking, 6-foot lead, and that’s it. We aren’t getting out 12-15 feet. “When the pitcher sets, we are trying to jump into our 12-foot lead that is utilized for most schools. “Then the base runner is balanced as he lands. If the pitcher doesn’t throw over to the base, then our runners are trained to take off for the next base as their inertia and movement are already going in the direction of the next base. “It’s hard to throw somebody out once they have momentum going. We do the same off second base when attempting to steal third. I believe we led the state last year in stealing third base. ill do everything we can to get the runner to third. Now there are multiple ways we can score the run via the sacrifice fly, a ground ball up the middle, a passed ball, an error, hit and these kinds of things. “Anything we can do to manufacture a run and win that inning is our approach offensively. That has paid dividends because we put a lot of pressure on opposing pitching staffs.” Count System In Hitting Vucan said that his hitters are keenly aware of counts. “We teach a count system where we look at 2-0 and 3-1 and force pitchers to pitch backwards to us. If they don’t pitch backwards to us, our hitters will look for pitches in a specific spot and sit on fastballs and try to barrel them up. That has been advantageous to our hitters. “It allows our lineup, especially the 7-8-9 hitters, to pounce on fastballs. This hitting system has been a big part of our success as we put pressure on opposing pitchers and defenses. “We also do a lot of bunting for hits. We don’t necessarily sacrifice bunt a lot. But we do a lot of late show drag bunts and late show push bunts. Every one of our hitters, 1-9 in the lineup, is going to be a threat to bunt. That’s hard for some of the big guys in our community to understand who are home run type hitters with power. “They must learn how to bunt and be able to bunt for a hit as they get out of the box and run hard down the line. “When you have a threat like this, the first and third basemen must play up. They don’t move back because we do a lot of fake bunting as well. The middle infielders start to move as well. Now you open up gaps and holes in the infield. The reaction time of those corner infielders is less which benefits us. “Anything hit hard will go into the outfield most of the time. “Our offense spends about 70 percent of their time trying to get locked into stealing bases and having a high on-base percentage.” Vucan said that the first part of his life, he grew up in Dana Point, Calif. “When I was a young boy, Augie Garrido (former head coach at Cal. St. Fullerton and Texas) was my hero). As I was growing up in California, my dad took me to my uncle who lived in Fullerton. He would take me to camps Augie Garrido ran at Cal. St. Fullerton. I learned a great deal. “I have three special photos of him. I have a photo of him when I was 7 years old at a Cal. St. Fullerton camp I attended. Then when I started my coaching career in El Paso, I went to the University of Texas camp to work it when he was the coach there. I got another picture of him just before he died. He had retired at Texas and was speaking at the ABCA Convention in Indianapolis. “I went up to him and explained that this is my third picture with you. He didn’t understand what I was talking about. So I explained the different times of my life I had a picture shot with him. “Augie Garrido has a huge influence on me as a coach. It not only is the bunting game which he liked. But his demeanor and his understanding of how baseball is about failure and why players must think more about the process Stealing Bases Fuels Offense For Dragons Continued From Page 20 instead of the result. “He coined the term, ‘divorce yourself from results. You need to focus on the process.’ He felt if you could do that, athletes would have a lot of success.” More On Hitting Philosophy Vucan delved more into his hitting philosophy. “We believe on being on time with pitches and arriving on time with the barrel of the bat as you square up pitches. We do not teach any of the new launch angle hitting philosophy that is in the game today. “We do a lot of tee work. In the fall, we do a lot with our hitters on swing mechanics. Essentially what we do at the beginning of the fall is take the legs totally out of hitting with our hitters. The first week, even varsity returners, we spend a lot of time on the upper body and arm mechanics as they have both knees on the ground. “The first swings of the week will have hitters extend their arms as they at the point of contact. Then they bring their hands back so they get the feel of the load position with just the hands and arms. Everything is reversed as we begin the process. Once you feel that the hitters have it down and feel good about what is going on, you have a protocol now. “We want them to refine their individual swings and get on plane. We want them to arrive on plane and keep the barrel in the strike zone as long as possible. If you take the legs and stride out of the equation like this, you can compartmentalize the teaching. We teach muscle memory with the upper half as we take the legs out of it. We also work on staying inside the baseball. “After a week or so, whenever the coaches feel our hitters are where we want them to be, then we will stand them up and work on no stride. Then we transition into hitting with the stride. We preach a short stride. “We use video like everybody else does. Our hitters typically have a lot of success hitting fastballs which is helped tremendously by those first couple of weeks eliminating the legs in the hitting stroke. “We have individual plans for each hitter since everyone is different. If a hitter can’t get past our initial work on hitting with no legs being involved, then they might have to spend more time on that until he is good at it. Then he graduates to phase two and can stand up. Everyone progresses a little differently until they are refined with their movements.” Defensive System Vucan said that with so many players coming to his school each year, he has a lot of great athletes. “We are looking for guys who can play shortstop and have been shortstops during their career. We utilize those players at first, second, short and third. In an ideal world, we have shortstops at every infield position outside of catcher. “It doesn’t always work out that way. Sometimes you have a true third basemen. What helps our defense is having high amount of reps early in the spring after a lot of good fundamental work in the fall. “We also do a lot of reps without throwing. “One thing that has helped us quite a bit, and I have to give a lot of credit to coach Shad Whiteley, is a 45-minute to an hour segment we have once a week on team defense. “Everything is with base runners at game speed. We score these practices which gives accountability to players. There is a penalty and reward for everything that happens. “A lot of our defensive work is repetitious. Each fielder learns where they need to be on this bunt coverage or back pick…different things like this so the timing is right between out fielders and pitchers. Then if we call a play when we are holding onto a 1-run lead late in a game, we know it has been worked on a lot. “For instance, if our opponents get two runners on late in the game with no outs as we have that 1-run lead, our infielders are ready for it. We might call a wheel back pick. None of our kids are confused because we practice these situations with the right tempo and pace under pressure in practice. “Let’s say we nab the runner at third, and now there are runners on first and second with one out. That completely changes the dynamic from having runners on second and third with one out. The failed bunt attempt hurts the psyche of the opposing team as the momentum shifts back to us. “We teach a lot about the psychology of momentum shifts and managing momentum,” added Vucan who teaches advanced placement psychology at Carroll. Pitching System Vucan said that his pitching system is similar in how he approaches hitting. “Even if starting pitchers come back, we spend a lot of time individually working with pitchers in the fall. “Early in the fall, we will wear them out by having them do extreme long toss on two consecutive days. Then we want to find out where there is any pain or discomfort in the body of those pitchers. Is there pain or soreness in the elbow, shoulder or some other spot? Wherever pain or soreness is, it will identify an acceleration or deceleration problem. “From there, this is what we have to guard against. Then we design an individual pitcher plan for each one. One pitcher may be a heavy ball guy. Another may need something else. It’s not as complex as it might seem. “If they have problems with command, we will get them on a 10 inch surface and throw off a rubber more. We look at all of our pitchers’ schedules each fall and try to manage and control their pitch loads through October. This is important if they are playing on club teams or travel teams. “Then we shut them down in October. Prior to October, we are developing command with our pitchers. We consider the fastball as two different pitches when you bring in the 2-seam and 4-seam grips. Then we graduate to the changeup and then teach them how to pitch backward. “We want our pitchers to have the confidence to throw a 2-0 changeup or a 3-1 curveball. That will come from repetition and healthy arms. “They start with their cord work every day to wake up their arms and shoulders. It’s the normal thing that everybody does. Then we put them through a 4-phase process. They utilize our weighted ball system which includes a 2-pound ball. It isn’t new. It was started by Ron Wolforth. “I didn’t come up with this concept at all. But the system we utilize is geared toward high school kids so they don’t get hurt. From there, we work on having pitchers attack with the fastball. We also want pitchers to be able to command off-speed pitches. “Another important area we work on is having pitchers finish half innings in 15 pitches or less. If he throws 16 pitches and is done with that inning, he is one over par. If they are at 14 pitches, they are one under par. We keep track of that, and they are conditioned to ask where they were after each inning. Someone keeping track of pitches will tell him 3 over, 2 under or whatever number he had.” Vucan said that with the new pitch count rules high school baseball utilizes, it is imperative that pitchers limit the number of pitches thrown. “For pitchers to last seven innings and sustain their starts, they must have this mindset if they want to have a chance of finishing games.” Future Of Carroll Baseball Vucan said that a bond election was held and passed years ago that allowed for a new multi-million dollar complex to be built for several sports, including a new artificial turf field for baseball and indoor/outdoor complex which includes 8 tunnels which the softball and baseball teams utilize. “ I don’t believe there will be a high school baseball facility in the United States that can match what we have. Our baseball facility has not been upgraded for over 20 years. So this is fantastic for our program. “We haven’t had access to anything in this complex yet. But it will be great when it is finished.”