Jeremy Barlow is the athletic director and head coach of the varsity baseball team at Robert F. Munroe Day School.
This is now his seventh year at the school, and his first job as a coach.
Barlow was born and raised in Pace, Florida, which is located just northeast of Pensacola.
He played baseball for Pace High School, and was part of his school’s 2010 Florida State Championship in the class 5A division for football.
That year, the team was also ranked number one in the country by ESPN.
After high school, Barlow played baseball for two years at Alabama Southern Community College in Monroeville, Alabama.
He transferred to Florida A&M University for his junior and senior years, where his team won a conference championship in 2015.
In addition to playing baseball at Florida A&M University, Barlow also earned a bachelor’s degree in agricultural business.
His heart, however, remained on the baseball diamond.
“I just really enjoyed playing the game,” says Barlow. “I was the catcher, you know you call your catcher your coach on the field. That’s the only position where you can really see everything that’s going on. I really wasn’t ready to get off the field yet, so when this opportunity came up at Munroe I applied for it, interviewed, got the job, and I’ve enjoyed my time here ever since.”
Barlow says he really enjoys coaching the team this year, and lists some of the strengths he sees in them as athletes:
“I think we communicate well on the field. We compete well. The team comes together, everybody really supports each other, we’re not like a one man show. We all have to get together, one unit, one goal, at one time.”
Coach Barlow also emphasizes a philosophy that ends up going beyond the game itself.
“My goal for the season is just for the guys to go out and compete, every single day. We are kind of a young team, so just getting out and competing, just giving 100 percent effort 100 percent of the time is what you’ll catch me saying to the guys all of the time. So if we can do that, if we can reach that goal, then the other things will fall into place. The wins and the losses aren’t as important as growing these kids into future citizens of the world. It’s important to me to instill a great work ethic in the kids so they understand that not everything is given to you, you have to really work for something that you want.”
Stephen Klein – Gadsden County News Service