Assistant football coach Rico Brogna, who is serving as co-receivers coach this year and was also receivers coach in 2004, is the subject of an article in today’s New York Times. Brogna played professional baseball for the Detroit Tigers, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies, Boston Red Sox, and Atlanta Braves from 1992-2001 and has his sights set becoming a major league baseball manager; he hopes to bring his football-coaching experience to the dugout:
“The model part of it is the way you organize all the different parts of a team and organization, to coach each part of it as best as it can be coached, whether it’s meetings for positional groups, how to study film, how to study scouting reports. I want to bring more of a football team mentality, revolve everything more around teamwork, team planning.”
[…] “He knows how to deal with people,” [head coach Frank] Hauser said. “That’s what coaching really comes down to, because the most important thing in coaching is to get the guys to play for you. That’s true in any sport. He’s mild-mannered, but he also makes guys toe the line.”
Brogna served as a pro scout and minor-league coordinator for the Arizona Diamondbacks this season, and he expects to be named manager of their AA affiliate, the Mobile (Ala.) BayBears, for next season.
NY Times: “For Brogna, Road Back to Majors Runs Through Football”