Give Him Another Ground Ball: Nolan McCutcheon’s Coaching Story

Ask Nolan McCutcheon what he does when a young player misses a ground ball, and his answer comes quickly: hit that player another one. Give the athlete a chance to reset, make the play and leave the mistake behind.

“Jump back up there, and I’m going to hit you another ground ball and you’re going to make the play,” he says. It is a small moment in a practice, but it says a great deal about the Prospects Sports Academy co-owner and coach. He knows the confidence of a pitcher who expects to win. He also knows how it feels when that confidence disappears.

His years in baseball taught him both. Today, he draws on those experiences to help young athletes keep learning, keep competing and believe they belong in the next play.

A baseball name, a backyard beginning

Nolan’s connection to baseball starts with his name. He and his identical twin brother, Ryan, were named after Nolan Ryan. Long before college recruiting or pitching lessons, Nolan remembers being a little boy with an enormous ambition: become a major-league pitcher, break his namesake’s strikeout records and throw even more no-hitters.

“I can’t ever remember a time in my life I wasn’t obsessed with baseball,” he says. His father, Steve, gave that obsession somewhere to grow. Nolan remembers daily games of catch in the backyard and a dad who kept teaching him the game. One lesson stayed with him: somewhere, another player was working to get better. Talent needed effort behind it.

His mother, a schoolteacher, supplied another influence he recognizes more clearly now. Nolan credits her with his instinct to teach, to explain what he understands and help someone else make sense of it. Those two influences would eventually meet in his coaching: his father’s competitiveness and his mother’s patience for learning.

Radar guns and a bigger dream

At Glenpool High School, Nolan developed into a left-handed pitcher with college ambitions. His archived UAFS biography credits him with three First Team All-Conference selections and Glenpool’s single-game strikeout record of 18. He remembers reaching that total in three consecutive games during his senior season. His Seward County player biography also records All-State recognition and selection by VYPE Magazine as one of Oklahoma’s top 20 players. Perfect Game’s Class of 2013 profile lists him as Oklahoma’s No. 3 left-handed pitcher. Those honors reflect the promise he carried into college recruiting.

Summer baseball brought a different kind of stage. Playing with the D-Bat Mustangs, he traveled to showcase events where the audience included college coaches and professional scouts. One Arizona game from his 17U summer remains especially vivid. He remembers radar guns rising as he prepared to deliver each pitch. The first batter doubled.

Nolan’s response, as he remembers it, was to decide that would be the last hit. He says he finished with a complete-game, one-hit shutout. Years later, the memory still captures what he loved about pitching: a difficult situation, a chance to compete and the belief that he could control what happened next.

That recruiting path included signing with the University of Arkansas out of Glenpool in the 2013 high-school class. Perfect Game lists Nolan among Arkansas’s 2013 commitments, and College Baseball Insider’s early-signings archive for the 2014 college season names him among the Razorbacks’ signees. After going undrafted out of high school, he chose junior college while continuing to pursue professional baseball. He is candid that he has questioned that decision since. He is equally clear that the path it started helped shape the coach he became.

Three colleges, and lessons beyond the pitching line

Nolan began at Seward County Community College in Liberal, Kansas. He describes that first year as a difficult adjustment. A player accustomed to success now had to work through rough outings, uncertainty and a setting that did not feel like the right fit. Those experiences would matter later when a young pitcher needed a coach who understood how discouraging the game could become.

A transfer to Eastern Oklahoma State College gave him a chance to rebuild. He remembers regaining his confidence there before choosing the University of Arkansas–Fort Smith. Being closer to home mattered, and so did feeling comfortable with the pitching philosophy. At UAFS, he pitched in starting and relief roles, built friendships he still values and finished his college career with a strong senior season.

Selected pitching highlights. Sources: UAFS’s player biography and 2017 NCAA regional game notes. Innings are expressed in thirds.

A senior season worth remembering

In 2017, the Lions finished 35–22, setting the program’s NCAA Division II-era single-season wins record at the time. They earned UAFS’s first NCAA Division II tournament berth and reached the South Central Regional championship game. That run included a 3–1 victory over West Texas A&M to advance to the regional final.

The postseason also included a 4–3, 14-inning win over Lubbock Christian in the Heartland Conference Tournament. For Nolan, the lasting memory of that spring is the excitement of winning with teammates who had put in the work together. The friendships and shared experience still mean as much to him as the results.

He graduated from UAFS in 2017 with a Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership. He also credits athletic and academic scholarships with helping him leave college without student-loan debt. Baseball had given him an education, relationships and experiences that remained valuable even as his plans for the future changed.

The teammate who was already teaching

Nolan’s coaching education began before his playing career ended. In college, he was the teammate who wanted to understand pitching mechanics in detail. He recalls other pitchers asking for help after practice, and he enjoyed sharing what he had learned. Studying the game and explaining it to someone else came naturally to him.

After college, that interest became pitching lessons. As his family bought the facility and developed the organization, teaching became a larger part of his life. Today, he co-owns Prospects Sports Academy with his father and brings those years of competition, study and experience into his work with players.

Confidence needs another opportunity

A parent watching one of Nolan’s practices, he says, would notice a relaxed atmosphere alongside a strong desire to compete. He cares about winning and values players who bring effort and determination. He also remembers how criticism after a mistake could leave a struggling player feeling even worse.

His approach is to keep the athlete involved. Telling a player to be confident has limits; the player also needs to see that the coach believes in them. Nolan tries to show that belief through another opportunity and the trust to compete again. That is why the missed ground ball gets another ground ball. The next repetition gives a player something useful to do with the frustration.

For parents, his message is patience. “The more time you put into something, the better you’re going to get at it,” he says. He does not expect one cue or one drill to transform a young athlete immediately. He wants families to understand the value of repeated, supported practice and to be part of the process when they can. Development, in his experience, takes time.

A new dad, and a dream for the next generation

Away from baseball, Nolan’s life now includes a role he treasures: being a new dad. At the time of this interview, his son, Corvin, was six months old. He is a huge Oklahoma Sooners fan and enjoys watching football, playing golf with his father and friends, fishing, camping and time at the lake. Much of what he values outside the facility comes back to family and friendships.

Asked what he hopes his players remember years from now, he gives a simple answer: “Just that I truly cared about them.” He wants to help athletes experience the pride of achieving something they worked for. He wants them to aim high, including college or professional baseball when those goals fit the player. He also wants them to recognize the value of the education, friendships and life lessons the game can provide along the way.

The little boy who wanted to break Nolan Ryan’s records still loves baseball. Now, he gets to help another generation discover what the game might give them. Sometimes that begins with a pitching lesson. Sometimes it begins with a missed ground ball, a coach who still believes in the player, and one more chance to make the play.

Train with Nolan at Prospects: View Nolan’s lessons and availability, or explore player development at Prospects Sports Academy.

Based on Nolan McCutcheon’s first-person interview. Personal memories and reflections are attributed to Nolan; historical statistics and team results were checked against the sources below.