The RoundHouse | 8/21/2019 1:25:00 PM

Where are they now:
 
Travis Wyckoff, baseball (1993-96)
 
Travis Wyckoff spent 11 years as a college baseball assistant coach and the conversations with other coaches stuck in his memory. 
 
Coaches gather at a recruiting showcase or a tournament. They talk – gripe about the weather or travel, gossip about job openings, ask about nearby food and get a family update.
 
The conversation almost always wanders to the search for advice that might make the coaching grind easier or more successful.
 
"At some point, it turns to, 'Hey, what makes so and so great?'" Wyckoff said. "What makes the guy you're working for a great leader?"
 
Wyckoff, a pitcher and outfielder for Wichita State, heard those questions about Shocker coaches Gene Stephenson, Jim Thomas and Brent Kemnitz. He asked about others. He and his peers hungered for the anecdote, recruiting tip or life lesson that might click. 
 
When he left coaching, he took those conversations and other experiences and decided to help. Two years ago, he started with Kingdom Coaching to focus on helping coaches with leadership, organization, health and other challenges of that life.
 
"I coach coaches," Wyckoff said. "That was born out of a couple things in my own coaching profession. I wasn't a real healthy coach. I was stressed. I didn't sleep well. Can I help these guys who are really unhealthy? Can I walk alongside of them in areas of leadership and self-awareness."
 
Wyckoff's help might range from how to run an effective meeting to composing a professional email to stress relief. One of his primary messages is that coaches should not feel personally defined by wins and losses. He believes his experience as an associate pastor at Stonegate Church in Texas helps him reach struggling coaches. 
 
"I've been learning over the last 10 years who I am and how I'm wired," he said. "I don't have a desire to be out in front on a stage receiving the awards. I want to be the guy that pours into the guy who is on stage."
 
Wyckoff, from Arkansas City, helped Wichita State to the 1993 and 1996 College World Series, four NCAA regional appearances and four Missouri Valley Conference titles. 
 
He earned All-American honors from Collegiate Baseball (first team) and the American Baseball Coaches Association (third) in 1996. That season, he hit .400 with 29 doubles and 25 steals. He went 5-0 with a 3.38 ERA and six saves as a reliever. 
 
In 2011, he was inducted into the Pizza Hut Shocker Sports Hall of Fame. Wyckoff was drafted in the 11^thround by the Florida Marlins in 1996.
 
Family –Wife, Cherice; Trevor (17), Cooper (15), Ellie (12)
 
On the air – Those conversations with coaches stuck in Wyckoff's mind. He decided podcasting gave him an opportunity to deliver those discussions to an audience.
 
"Why don't I take the conversation that every coach in America is having hundreds of times a year – why I don't get that on tape?" he said. "That would be another way to help expand my relational network – interview coaches, interview athletic directors."
 
On the Coaching DNA Podcast, Wyckoff talked with Andy Lopez, former baseball coach at Arizona and Pepperdine, Oregon athletic director Rob Mullens, Minnesota Twins pitching coach Wes Johnson, former Wichita State pitching coach Brent Kemnitz and others.
 
"The last question I ask the guest on my podcast 'If you were me, who would you want to get on his podcast? Who would you want to hear from?'" Wyckoff said. "That question has allowed me to reach out to these people and say 'Hey, Bernard (Muir, athletic director at Stanford), (Creighton athletic director) Bruce Rasmussen was bragging about you the other day. I had him on the podcast. Would you be willing?'"
 
A life of coaching –Coaches spend their athletic lives expecting to be coached – from youth sports to professional careers.
 
When they stop playing, things change. Wyckoff thinks it is important for coaches to look for coaching.
 
"When a coach is in a house fire, so to speak, and the flames are everywhere . . . and he's not really sure where the exit is, he needs somebody hovering around in helicopter above the house to see and remind him to go this way," he said. 
 
With that in mind, he is excited about Wichita State's hiring Loren Hibbs as assistant athletic director for baseball operations. Hibbs, a former Shocker outfielder and assistant coach, coached Charlotte for 27 seasons before returning to Wichita State.
 
Wyckoff sees Hibbs as a resource for Shockers coach Eric Wedge, hired in May after working in professional baseball since 1998, and his assistants. 
 
"When they get that thing rolling in two or three years, or maybe sooner, I think there's going to be stories talked about how (Hibbs) mentioned this or (Hibbs) said this to us and really helped us out or he challenged me in this way or encouraged me in this way," Wyckoff said. "I'm convinced those stories are going to be numerous, so I'm so impressed with Eric's hiring. I think he's going to play a pivotal role on that staff."
 
Utility coach –Wyckoff works with coaches at small colleges and NCAA Division I. He works with all sports. 
 
He wants to expand his work with coaching staffs, an area he sees as under-served.
 
He is not interested in fielding drills, shooting tips or conditioning advice.
 
"The one area I'm not focused on is how to throw a curveball," he said. "I want to deal with people and leadership."
 
Shocker fans in the stands –When Wyckoff thinks of Wichita State, his mind goes to the community support. When he describes crowds to friends in Texas, they are surprised.
 
"People are stunned when they see the level of support for Wichita State athletics in Wichita," he said. "When you think back to your time at Wichita State you think of the people and the brotherhood you built. But then there's that inspiration from the fan base that's just really supportive."
 
Wyckoff said he keeps in contact with former teammates such as Casey Blake and Jason Ficken. He returned to Wichita in 2016 for a roast when Kemnitz left the coaching staff to go into administration.
 
"In my era, there was so much pride in Shocker baseball," he said. "We won a lot of games and we built a brotherhood. That, probably, in the big picture, is the thing that I look back fondly on."

Paul Suellentrop covers Wichita State Athletics and the American Athletic Conference for university Strategic Communications. Contact him at paul.suellentrop@wichita.edu.