The time was finally right for Killian head baseball coach Angel Herrera to move on to something new.
After 16 years of coaching high school baseball in South Florida, Herrera will be an assistant coach and recruiter with Miami Dade College.
And although he has switched from head coach to college recruiter, he feels not much will change in terms of his love for the game and overall governing mentoring philosophy.
“I’ve always enjoyed coaching more than playing the game,” Herrera said. “A big passion of mine has always been coaching.”
Herrera does not officially become part of the Miami Dade College coaching staff until Aug. 1, however, he already has begun competing tasks for his new program.
Miami Dade College had offered Herrera the position in 2010, but he was starting a family, and he was not ready to make the transition.
Three years ago, Florida International University offered him an assistant coaching position a week before the start of the high school baseball season.
He said he could not in good conscience take the job then, but last year Miami Dade Coach Danny Price offered to hold the position until the end of the of the high school baseball season.
The timing finally was right.
“So I have always wanted to make this move,” Herrera said. “But it has never been the right time. This step to coaching college has been about seven years coming.”
During the past 16 years, Herrera compiled an extensive resume by winning more than 200 high school baseball games, winning Miami Herald Coach of the Year, coaching eight future Major Leaguers and countless college All-Americans.
He hopes to apply the same coaching principles, which yielded a successful career, as a recruiter for Miami Dade College.
“Baseball encompasses life,” Herrera said. “I teach life lessons through the game to help these kids become better people. The relationships will remain the same.”
The former Killian coach is excited to start helping build a new program by handpicking players and evaluating talent.
“I have always believed to win you don’t need the best players, but the best group,” Herrera said. “I am not looking just for choir boys. I may be looking at kids looking for a second chance. I want to look at the heart and character of a player before anything else.”
Despite leaving years of memories at Killian, recruiting and building the Miami Dade baseball program is Herrera’s focus now.
“There is no element of sadness,” Herrera said. “What is hard is the change itself. There is nostalgia and many awesome memories at Killian, but the relationships are still there. The memories won’t change.”
Herrera believes the most challenging part of recruiting will be dealing with the pressure of players’ homes and convincing them Miami Dade College is the best decision. His wife, Lissette, says he will thrive talking to families about their child’s future.
“I am excited for him because I know that was the next step for his career,” Lissette Herrera said. “I think his strength is communication.
He really loves the program; he loves Miami Dade. He’s very good at communicating and passionate about what he believes in.”
Regardless of Herrera’s position change, he will try to build players of character who mesh well together to form a cohesive, winning group.
His mentorship as a head coach or recruiter will remain the same.
“God put me on earth to help young ones to get them to get where they need to go,” Herrera said.
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