As a four year quarterback and two time national champion at Westminster College—then an NAIA Division 2 program, now NCAA Division 3—Dean Santorio majored in business, then worked in sales for a short stint after graduation before realizing that athletics was his real passion. So he earned himself another four year degree and a masters in education, and that led him full circle: right back to the same high school from which he’d graduated. Today, nearly 33 years later, he teaches physical education and serves as head coach of the Grand Island (NY) High School Varsity Boys Baseball and Football programs. We caught up with him to talk about all things coaching, and about communication in particular.

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What’s your personal approach to coaching? Has that changed over time?   ​You know, early on in my career, I was probably worried about proving myself. Building a program that was successful, and winning. But I think the longer you coach… Well, my philosophy is still to be successful, but that doesn't necessarily mean I have to win ten football games or fifteen baseball games in a season. My philosophy now is about having kids believe in what I do. I want them to want to play for me. And the only way to do that is to make it enjoyable for them. Coaches can be hard on kids sometimes, so we need to be just as supportive and positive with them or they're not going to enjoy themselves, and that won't build a successful program. I think we've won 68 or 69% of our games in football and baseball over my time here. I know that if kids are having fun, our chances only increase. We've all made mistakes as coaches—we've all probably wished we would have handled some things differently, but I think the more consistent you are with treating kids the right way, you have a chance to be pretty successful. And that doesn't necessarily have to do with wins and losses. If kids learn to be committed, if they learn discipline, if they gain the benefits of athletics, then when they go to college and they eventually start a career or a family, and they realize those benefits, you've done your job.

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You’re a teacher and a coach. Are they basically the same thing?   ​100%! I've been teaching high school for about twenty years. Before that I was at a middle school. So I've taught and coached at a couple of different levels, but both things are all about kids understanding the information you're trying to provide.

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You’re obviously a believer in communication from coaches to players. How has that evolved over the years?   ​Obviously things have changed in the last 33 years! Back in the day—before cell phones—coach to athlete communication was personal. You’d hope to talk to a kid at school, or at practice. Then with cell phones, you started using emails, and then text messages. Of course, you can have issues with that stuff, and it can be complicated. One thing I've taken from PowerPlayer is that it allows me to communicate with my players quickly and easily, and it streamlines everything into one area, hassle free. It's a safe and easy way to communicate on a daily basis. Kids have access to their phones, so I know they're going to see my posts. Sending them notifications about something we're going to do in practice, or letting them know that we’ve changed our practice time… it's very user friendly. The kids like it, and I think it being a one way communication app—other than the thumbs up or thumbs down, or when you do a poll or a survey—it's kind of nice. It's been a huge benefit, and I've used it in different ways already.

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What coaching opportunities are you exploring with PowerPlayer now?​  You know, the first thought was that it would be primarily for messaging to the kids, but I’ve started using the polling tools more and more, to hear from the kids. I used the system to ask them if they were going away for spring break, and right away I got the thumbs up or thumbs down from eight guys going away and nine guys staying home. I got instant feedback without sending a whole lot of texts or waiting for practice to talk to them, and it's nice having a log right on my phone—who's staying and who's going—if I want to practice through the week. And I did a few other simple polls—like who's going to win the World Series—just to get them used to interacting a little bit. So as the season goes on, I'll use it for more of that kind of thing. How's everyone's arms feeling today? How do you feel about the game tonight? What are a couple of things you think we need to do to win today? Maybe list four things and have them pick what's most important. That way I’ll be using it to learn about how they’re doing, and to get them to think about their roles in the game itself. And I like the fact that I can message an individual or a group. If I want to ask something or send a simple message, maybe some kind of motivational quote, I can do that for one player, or I can do it for all my pitchers or my catchers.

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Also video. I think the first video I loaded was our third day of practice. We wanted to do something that would give them a workout at the end of practice, so I videoed a bunch of them jumping rope and posted that stuff to them, and said “Fantastic job, glad to see everyone working hard.” And you know, it was cool for them to see themselves working hard, and to know that I appreciated that. Since then I've posted a few videos of guys taking swings against curveballs off our pitching machine so they can see what they're doing. So I can use PowerPlayer for personal or team motivation, I can use it as an informational tool, and I can use it as a personal or team teaching tool with videos.

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What do you think that kind of personal coaching does for your players?    ​As a coach, you sometimes think kids know more than they know. And then you'll say something, and they’ll look at you like you're crazy. You're like, “You've never heard that before?” There's a lot kids don't know, and hopefully I can provide some of that knowledge, and I can learn from them as well. You have to be able to connect with kids one on one or you're not going to be successful. If you don't reach them the right way, they're not going to play hard, they're not going to have the passion or desire. And that stuff goes a long way. So PowerPlayer allows me to connect with individual kids better. Obviously, in the long run, that's only going to help.

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You’ve been at this coaching thing a while. Do you still get excited about innovations and new ways of approaching it?   ​You're always looking for some way to improve, something that's going to benefit your program in some way: a piece of equipment, a training device, some type of technology. In football, for example, I use Hudl for video analysis. After ten years I can't imagine not using it. And I use what's called a CoachPad, which is like a little tablet. I can draw plays and show my kids instantly on the field. And I’ve found that to be hugely beneficial in the last five years. But PowerPlayer is something I've already realized—after using it for just a few months—is going to be hugely beneficial in all sports. ​​​​​​

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So this may be my 33rd year, but yeah, I still get excited because you know what? When you see a kid do something successful—it could be the smallest thing, like the first extra point a kid ever kicked in his life, or the first big base hit to win a game—when you see a kid smiling, and having fun, and being successful, that's what makes it fun. And that's pretty cool.​