Grill - Mike Lee

Michael Lee played college baseball and coached junior high football and varsity baseball before he worked as a Major League scout. He talks about walking away scouting to return to high school coaching and beginning his first season as a varsity football coach at Van Buren. VYPE: What sports did you play growing up? Lee: As a youth I played all sports. I pretty much played everything there was — football, basketball and baseball. As I got older, I played more baseball. My first love is baseball, and my background is more as a baseball player than anything. I played a little hoop in high school, not a whole lot. I went to a big school (North Little Rock Northeast) and kind of just went the baseball route. I got a scholarship offer to UCA, which aided me to go to college. VYPE: You went to high school at now defunct North Little Rock Northeast. What is like having your alma mater consolidated? Lee: It's a little different. I was real active in the Boy's Club growing up, so the kids that went to Old Main High, I knew those guys. It wasn't like I wasn't friends with people that went to Old Main. We had a lot of fun at Northeast, and it was a great school. It was a little different, but for the most part it wasn't that big of a transition. VYPE: What sticks out about your college baseball career? Lee: What sticks out, is that it was one of the most enjoyable times of my life. The guys I played baseball with at UCA are my friends for life. We are scattered to and yonder, but when we run into each other, it's like we are still playing. The coach that recruited me, Jack Fulmer, is still an active official. He officiates football and basketball and umpires baseball. I still get to see him a lot. He is a guy I will love the rest of my life. He was in my wedding, and I am just indebted to him for furthering my education. The guy that took over (at UCA), Doug Clark, is a good friend of mine. I worked a lot of baseball camps for him and Coach Norm Debriyn when they were at Arkansas. (Clark) is really pushing the (UCA) program. They are Division I, have a new AD, and the facility is changing. It makes me real proud I was a part of it. VYPE: Why did you pursue coaching? Lee: To be honest, I didn't know what else to do. I'm not the smartest guy that ever went to college. All I knew was ball of some sort. (Coaching) was just a natural fit. I like team competition — something that is in my blood. They told me I wasn't going to play anymore. To me there was only one option, and that was to coach. After my last year of American Legion baseball, I came back from college, and the next year started coaching kids I played with. My coaching career got an early start. VYPE: What was it like scouting for the Kansas City Royals? Lee: It was a grind. The scout is the backbone of the organization, especially an organization like the Royals that isn't active in the free agent market. They tend to rely more on scouting. It was a grind, and they pushed us because we were out there digging. You did pinch yourself every once in awhile and say, 'Man, I'm making a living at the ballpark watching baseball games.' Every once in awhile you were involved in a conversation with George Brett (former Royals Hall of Famer) or Frank White (former Royals second basemen) or Sparky Anderson (former Major League manager). You had to step back because it was surreal. Guys you watched your whole life, and now you are talking baseball with them. That part gave you stars in your eyes. But, the day-in-day-out life of a baseball scout is a grind. It's a good grind because you are in a different town every day watching ball. But, it's work. It's not real glamorous. VYPE: What was your biggest diamond in the ruff as a scout and which player that you signed made the biggest impact in the major leagues? Lee: The diamond in the ruff guy is Kit Pellow. We signed him for $2,000. I think he was a 38th-round pick. We signed him as a senior out of Arkansas, and he made it all the way to the big leagues (now playing in Mexico). The most notable guy I signed was Wes Obermueller, who played in the big leagues (Now playing for Samsung Lions in Japan). He was a right-handed pitcher we signed out of the University of Iowa as a second round pick in the last year (1999) I was in scouting. That is the highest draft pick I signed. VYPE: You quit the Royals without a job. Why? Lee: It was real simple. God led me to do that. My last year in scouting was an uncomfortable year for me because my son was two years old, and I didn't get to see monumental events in his life. I didn't get to hear him say his first word, and I didn't get to see him walk for the first time. There were times when he was real sick as a baby, and I had to console my wife over the phone, who was at the hospital with him. It was just a real tough time. For awhile, I tried to fool myself. 'This is doable, this is something you have worked your whole life for.' At the time, I was the youngest scout in the big leagues. An Arkansas guy, David Glass, had purchased the club, and my future in the organization from what I had been told was very bright. The only problem is, the higher you work up in baseball, the more it takes you out. I struggled with it and struggled with it and finally The Lord stepped in and said, 'I'm going to make the decision for you. I resigned, and I was called crazy and stupid. I was called some unpleasant things. But, that is what I was led to do, and it worked out good for me. VYPE: Are you nervous about your first varsity head-football coaching job? Lee: There are some many things at this level I have to oversee, that I don't have time to be nervous. I'm a planner. I'm real big in regimens and details. I'm not naïve enough to think as it gets closer there won't be some butterflies. There's butterflies when you are an assistant. I've got a great, great staff. We have great support from our school administrators and our kids are high-character kids. I don't have to be embarrassed by what one of my staff members is doing or what my kids do. All I have to worry about is the game and organizing practice. A lot of the stuff that coaches are nervous about is already lifted off my shoulders. VYPE: Van Buren hasn't earned a playoff berth since 1999. What gives you hope, you can turn the program around? Lee: The kids, the parents in our community and our school administration is second-to-none. Everything is in place. What we have go to do is work the pair a diem of, 'Yes we can.' It's tough. Our numbers aren't what we would hope, but we are plus-15 from what we were last year. We get a little more athletic when you get into the younger grades. Plus, we've got some high-character seniors. They aren't the most athletic or biggest, strongest or fastest, but they have high character and have been through rough times, and they aren't going to flinch. That gives a chance. VYPE: What kind of impact do you think leaving the 7A West will have on your program? Lee: That's probably the most-asked question I get. The 7A Central and 7A west, schematically, have differences but athlete wise and coaching wise, there are a lot of parallels. There's great coaches and great athletes. The emphasis may be more ground and pound in the Central than the West, but they still score a lot of points and play great defense. I don't see a whole lot of difference to be honest. We have to take care of our end of it. We've only won 8 of our past 50 games, so I'm not interested in what other teams are doing. We have to make sure we do our stuff the way we are supposed to do it. VYPE: What are your goals for this season? Lee: We want to be competitive week in and week out. That's something we haven't been here in awhile. We talk about three things with our staff and our team every day. No. 1, we are going to honor God with our play. That's the first thing we are going to try to accomplish. We are going to please Him and our community, and we are going to please our football family. No. 2, we are going to be in shape. When you are in shape that is going to allow you to play hard. If you run 4.8, then play 4.8. No. 3, we are going to have a plan — be it a practice, game or banquet. Whatever it is, we are going to be prepared. Those three things are what we focus on. The way I figure it, if you can focus on and achieve those things, the cards are going to fall.