SEC's winningest coach volunteering with Dans: 'How lucky can we be?'

Jul. 9—DANVILLE — Ron Polk has plenty of baseball expertise to draw upon from his years around the game.

Polk is the winningest head coach in SEC baseball history after an 31-year career in the conference yielded 1,218 wins between Mississippi State and Georgia. A four-year stint at Georgia Southern brought his career win total to 1,373 games.

He still calls Starkville, Miss., home and works for the Bulldogs' athletic department as a special assistant to athletic director Zac Selmon.

Polk isn't yet content to spend much time on the sidelines.

"I'm 79. I'll be 80 next year," Polk said. "My old bones, I'm not sure how many more years, but every place I go, the kids seem to be receptive. Kind of like what I do, we put a plan in and do the best we can."

Polk — who has also coached Team USA on seven occasions — is in the middle of his second summer as a volunteer assistant with the Prospect League's Danville Dans, a role that allows him to focus on instructing players more than anything else.

After spending decades as a college head coach and eight years as a manager in the Cape Cod League, the four-time SEC Coach of the Year has been happy to leave the inconveniences of lineups and roster management to Dans coach Eric Coleman.

"I don't want to be the head coach at all," Polk said. "No interest at all. I don't want to have to deal with rosters. I don't have to deal with lineups. I just advise. I teach the kids how the system works. And that's what I do."

Polk's role was perfectly apparent leading up to the Dans' game against the Terre Haute (Ind.) on June 27, a 6-5 10-inning win at Danville Stadium over the REX.

After gathering the Dans in the grandstands behind the third-base dugout to talk about the previous night's game, Polk took the team onto the field to walk through different scenarios relating to cutoff throws.

Batting practice followed with Polk leaning intently against the cage and offering advice to batters after their rounds.

"It's awesome having a coach with that much knowledge and passion and history in the game," said Chase Vinson, an Oakwood graduate who just finished his senior season at Morehead State. "It's nice to just pick his brain and hear what he has to say."

Polk spent the early stages of the game perched against the rail of the dugout at its far edge, a high-traffic area as players left for the field and returned between innings.

All of this stemmed from Polk's days in the dugout at Mississippi State, where the Bulldogs sent as many players to Danville as any college team in the country.

"Some of the famous ones are here on the wall," Dans managing partner Jeanie Cooke said. "For example, Jonathan Papelbon (and) when he was here, he actually came as a first baseman, and Coach Polk, if I remember correctly, suggested we put him on the mound and take a look at him there. It took about one pitch to say, 'Woof.'"

Over time, Polk's relationship with Cooke helped open the door for Polk to join up with the Dans after the highly successful coach departed the Cape Cod League.

"He called on the phone," Cooke recalled, "and said, 'You know, I've been to Cape for quite a while. It's 22 hours from my house, love the weather there, but the kids come in and out so quickly there. I want to have more time to teach. How would you feel if I came up and volunteered for you for the summer? What are you gonna say?'"

Cooke's response? "How lucky can we be?"

The man who's seen just about everything baseball has to offer — with a Rolodex as expansive as they come — has been an invaluable resource.

"Any place you work, what it's about is getting along with people," Cooke said. "It's listening to other people. It's partnering and certainly you have to partner in baseball because everyone knows everyone. When you get into college ball, there are no strangers."

Polk's steady presence has helped Coleman guide the Dans to plenty of success on the field.

Danville finished the first half of the Prospect League season atop the Wabash River Division at 16-11 to earn a playoff berth. This after the Dans collected a Prospect League-most 40 regular-season wins during the 2022 campaign.

"Just the knowledge he brings to our guys," Coleman said. "He sees something new probably every single night and the guys gravitate to him. ... (He) talks to the guys about the game and also probably about life, so it's been a blessing."

Many of the Dans hail from states and programs familiar to Polk.

Nine of the team's players are from SEC schools, with Alabama, Auburn, Texas A&M and Mississippi State are represented on the Dans' roster — including Crimson Tide teammates Hunter Hoopes and Sammy Leis.

"Being a part of what he's done and being able to be around a guy who knows that much about baseball is something special," Hoopes said. "He definitely knows everything that you could possibly know about baseball. He's not just a pitching coach. He's not just a hitting coach. He's an everything coach, and he's done a few things. I've only been here for two weeks, and he's done a few things that I wouldn't think would work and they work immediately."

Leis quickly learned where Polk's loyalties lie.

"He definitely likes the SEC," Leis said. "Like I know he got mad during (NCAA) regionals because he asked me if I was happy that Auburn lost.

"I'm like, 'Yeah, I mean, I'm not a big Auburn guy,' and he's like, 'No, you should always be rooting for the SEC' and kind of got on me for that. Like whenever the SEC is in a regional game, you've got to cheer for them."

Polk's ventures outside of Starkville also extend beyond Danville. He's not a huge fan of office work.

He frequently makes time to speak to youth and high school teams and completed a speaking tour that included a stop with Champaign Central at the school's newly renovated Decker Theater in December.

"He brings a lot of respect, as far as that goes," Maroons baseball coach John Staab said. "The message to the kids (was) just being not only selfless, but being a leader and what goes into the makeup of a leader. He's been around a lot of them and so he shared with the kids kind of the makeup of a leader and how they go about things."

Staab has two copies of Polk's book — "Baseball Playbook" — which he and other coaches cite as a valuable resource.

"It's over 500 pages of detailed information from anything from taking an efficient in-and-out to growing grass on your field," Staab said. "It covers a lot of things, and it's like a bible for coaches. I have had that for years and used a lot of the material out of that as a coach and had the opportunity when he spoke to get a new copy signed by him."

Polk still has something left in the tank, although he's not yet sure if he'll be back with the Dans next summer or not. That's a decision that will come next spring depending on how he's feeling.

But Polk's summers in Danville are proof that he's still got plenty of knowledge to offer.

"I try to joke with the guys a little bit and have fun," Polk said. "I'm up here because I'm paying my own way, and if it was a pain in the butt, I wouldn't be coming."