The ‘Ol College Try

Video posted May 1, 2014 in Sports by Dan Griswold

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Blake Beemer is not an ordinary baseball coach.

Brought in by new Penn State head coach Rob Cooper, Beemer is in the unusual position of working for free.

As a volunteer assistant coach, Beemer receives no salary, only the experience of coaching at the college level.

A 2013 graduate of Ball State University, Beemer connected with Cooper when Cooper was the head coach at Wright State University. Beemer was a high school freshman at the time, attending a hitting camp run by Cooper, and easily grasped the concepts Cooper was teaching, leading Beemer to attend each subsequent camp.

The two eventually developed a relationship, and when Cooper was hired as Penn State's new head coach, he offered Beemer a volunteer assistant spot on the staff. Beemer's response: "I'll be there tomorrow."

Some of Beemer's duties include working with the team's outfielders, coaching first base, administrative work, and other tasks that the three other coaches don't need or want to do.

Tagged in:

assistant coach , baseball , blake beemer , dream , nittany lions , penn state , volunteer coach

About the Contributors

Dan Griswold's photo

Dan Griswold

Senior / Journalism (visual communication)

Dan Griswold is a Penn State student, majoring in journalism with a concentration in visual communication. He is a senior expecting to graduate in May of 2014. He was inducted into Penn State’s chapter of Kappa Tau Alpha, the national honor society for journalism and mass communication, in April of 2013.

He was accepted as a candidate for The Daily Collegian’s photo staff during his first semester, and currently serves as a senior photographer.  He has also participated in an independent study with Professor John Dillon, which involved contributing articles to the Centre Daily Times, the newspaper serving Centre County in Pennsylvania.

Dan hopes to participate in an internship following graduation, and eventually work anywhere he can that will allow him to use his skills in photography, and multimedia in general to contribute to his employer’s goals.