Georgia baseball coach Scott Stricklin and son Cale were wrapping up a batting practice session Monday morning, when the rising junior at North Oconee High paused to spring some news on his old man.
He was going to be a Bulldog.
“I’ve always known I wanted to go to Georgia, but I kind of didn’t tell him,” Cale Stricklin said. “So, I kind of surprised him. I was taking BP, picking up some balls, and I just casually said, yeah, I’m going to come to Georgia. I think I caught him off guard.”
For those wondering, this is not a situation in which being the son of an SEC head coach led to the offer young Cale Stricklin accepted Monday.
Quite the contrary.
One of the state’s top young catchers, Cale Stricklin enjoyed a stellar sophomore campaign for the Titans, who advanced to the semifinals of the 4A state playoffs. He followed that up with an outstanding summer playing for Team Elite, ultimately choosing to stay home and become part of Georgia’s 2023 signing class despite offers from other big-time programs.
“I’ve been thinking about this for several years, hoping I'd have the opportunity to do this. The thing for me is, I know he’s the right kid to handle it, because when you’re the coach’s son, there’s some things that come along with that, that are not necessarily fair to him,” Scott Stricklin said. “It’s just something that comes along with it, and he can handle it. That’s the important thing for me. There will be things that happen, things that will be said. It’s natural, but I know he can handle it, and I’ve kind of prepared him for that the last few years.”
Cale Stricklin joked that he’s ready for whatever challenges may lie ahead.
“I’ve been around his practices for basically my whole life,” he said. “I know the way he coaches, and I think, at least, I know how to handle his coaching, and I think I’m ready for it when I get there.”
The elder Stricklin admits there were some early trepidations. Although it’s not unheard of for sons to play for their fathers, it’s still a fairly rare occurrence. Cale is also a catcher as his dad was in the minor leagues, which only adds to the story.
“He’s definitely helped me along the way,” Cale Stricklin said. “He’s shaped me catching-wise; almost everything he did, I do. He’s guided me down the path of catching.”
Both father and son know the tougher trials await.
“It will be challenging,” Scott Stricklin said. “He knows I’m hard on all the players, I challenge all the players, and it’s not going to be any different with him.”
A moment two years prior helped convince the Georgia coach his son had what it was going to take.
Cale was taking batting practice under the watchful eye of his father, when the young player started to struggle with some advice. Adjustments were not being made.
“I kind of got on him a little bit, as I would with any player—'come on, let’s go.' He kind of gave me that look that a son gives his dad after having enough of hearing Dad,” Scott Stricklin said. “He had that look on his face, gave the eye roll, and I just stopped him and said, ‘Hey, when we’re here, I’m not your dad, I’m your coach.’
“If that’s the way you’re going to handle me coaching you, that’s OK, we’ll just find a different coach to give you lessons and help you get better. I said that’s fine, but you’re also telling me you can’t play here at Georgia. He just kind of looked at me, and from that point on it has been, 'Yes sir, no sir,' he’s handled the coaching. That’s the moment where I really communicated with him that if you want to play at Georgia, this is the way it has to be. I can’t treat you differently, I’ve got to coach you the same.”
Cale Stricklin remembers that day well.
“Oh yeah, it was a bad round of BP. I got frustrated and showed a little body language,” he said. “He got on me and told me he didn’t want any of his players to show that kind of body language.”
Still, Dad knows he has to be careful. Being too hard on his son is also something he wants to avoid.
“I’ve also got to be careful like a lot of coaches who have coached their sons—to watch out being too hard on him,” Scott Stricklin said. “That’s going to be the challenge, finding that balance of treating him just like everybody else on that field. He’s up for it; I think I am. Fortunately, I’ve still got a couple of years to try and condition myself and be ready.”
