By Gary Lloyd
Hewitt-Trussville varsity baseball coach Jeff Mauldin on Thursday spoke to Trussville Area Chamber of Commerce members about God having a plan for everything.
Mauldin, originally from Danville, Va., said after his first year as a UAB baseball player, he was homesick, set on transferring to Virginia Tech to be a walk-on. Mauldin’s dad said no, that he had committed to four years at UAB and that he would finish his career there.
“You talk about tough love,” Mauldin said.
That fall, Mauldin met his now wife, Chrissy.
Hewitt-Trussville head baseball coach Jeff Mauldin speaks after the AHSAA Class 6A championship series in May.
file photo by Gary Lloyd
“I really believe God has a plan for everything,” Mauldin said.
Mauldin’s first post-UAB coaching gig came at Clay-Chalkville Middle School. Coaching middle school players earned Mauldin a “great passion” for that age group. He said that if he was ever fortunate enough to land a high school coaching job, he’d make the middle school kids feel as important as the seniors.
“That’s our foundation,” he said. “That’s our base.”
Mauldin said new coaches and hungry players combined for a “perfect storm” for his first season at Hewitt-Trussville in 2013. He said he saw kids “starving to be pushed.”
Mauldin said he builds his program on three foundations: never compromising beliefs in what the team does and who it is, doing your job regardless of your position and breathing success in everyday life.
“We want to have that winning mentality,” he said.
Hewitt-Trussville won a school-record 34 games last season, falling in the Class 6A state championship series to Pelham. Mauldin spent the past six seasons at Pelham, where he compiled a 176-51 record. Prior to that, he was the head coach at Clay-Chalkville from 2000-2006, where he won a state championship in 2003. His 2005 and 2006 teams at Clay-Chalkville were the state runners-up. His career record at Clay-Chalkville was 218-62.
Contact Gary Lloyd at news@trussvilletribune.com and follow him on Twitter @GaryALloyd.
