home run

Rob Coughlin ’03 is entering his 16th season with the Cincinnati Reds and his second as Senior Director of Professional Scouting for the team. He spent the previous three seasons as director of the scouting team. Rob manages a staff of professional scouts and is responsible for the collection and dissemination of information on all players at the major league and minor league levels. He manages the process for and provides recommendations on all potential professional player acquisitions and also oversees the Reds’ Pacific Rim and independent league scouting operations. Before his promotion to director, he served two seasons as Assistant Director of Professional Scouting and seven seasons as Manager, Video Scouting. Rob originally was hired by the Reds in 2008 as a baseball operations intern.

A native of Saratoga Springs, New York, Rob attended Wesleyan University after his graduation from The Albany Academy and earned a degree in economics. While at Wesleyan, he was captain of the baseball team.

Rob treasures his time at AA and recently shared that what he values most is the personal nature of the education and the sense of community he experienced here. “Teachers and students knew each other very well and, as a result, it was comfortable to engage in debate and challenging conversation,” Rob said. “In addition, the tight-knit nature of the community allowed teachers to push students when they were ready to be pushed, and support them in areas where they needed help. That type of personal attention is invaluable and doesn’t happen everywhere.”

He notes several specific skills he learned at Academy that helped him be successful in college and in his professional career in sports management. “Speaking in front of a group, whether formally in declamation competitions or on the mock trial team, or informally during the normal course of class discussion, is some- thing I developed a comfort level with at Academy,” he said. “Also, the opportunity to seek out leadership positions in sports, student government, and (the now defunct) battalion provided great experiences in what goes into being responsible for groups of people. The ability to manage and/or communicate with a group of people is something that has been very important in my career and my time at Academy helped me develop those skills.”

Of course there have been challenges along the way in his career but Rob has the skills to overcome them.

“As part of my previous role, I was responsible for calling the dugout from the video room during games and advising our manager as to whether he should use one of his instant replay ‘challenges’ on close plays. This was demanding and intense, as I could not take my eyes off the game for even a second, and my recommendations had to come in a matter of seconds. Over the course of a long season it was inevitable that, on occasion, my recommendation was going to be wrong. When that was the case I would have a really terrible feeling, like I let the team and the organization down. But it was also fulfilling, and a great learning experience having to make quick decisions in real time with thousands of people watching. It taught me to live with the decision I make even if it turns out to be wrong. While I do chalk it up as a positive experience, it’s one responsibility I’m glad I don’t have anymore.”

His advice for future students is to take advantage of the opportunities that Academy provides. “I think it’s rare to find the combination of high-end facilities and a (relatively) small population, which allows students to get involved with any number of activities, whether that be clubs, sports, journalism, or student government. You may be able to deepen your involvement in something you already had some level of interest in, or discover that you are passionate about something that you weren’t even aware of.