Mike Bianco's motivational stories to Rebels create social media buzz

OXFORD | A coach can’t use the same words and phrases repeatedly during 56-game college baseball season.

Some outside help is needed to keep the 35-man roster engaged, as there’s the hope to find the appropriate marks to build confidence, motivation and simply break the monotony of the marathon-like schedule.

Mike Bianco’s stories have generated social media buzz this season, as Ole Miss publishes the videos on various online platforms. The 18-year Rebel head coach took a book of stories with him from LSU when he became the head coach at McNeese State prior to the 1998 season, and he recycles and adds his own tales to the rotation.

“They come from all over the place,” Bianco said. “Some of them are left over from my days as an assistant coach… and some of them are from Brian Cain, our peak performance coach. Some of them are just through the Internet and things I’ve read — books I’ve read and different stories and inspirational stuff. I pick certain stories and then hold them in a folder to see when they will fit. The short answer is a lot of places.”

The pregame and postgame chats typically last a couple minutes and span from Phil Knight and Nike to packing parachutes. Bianco doesn’t have a favorite tale, but he’s aware they are making their rounds beyond the team. It’s put more onus on him to find the appropriate theme and perfect his delivery.

“It’s amazing that they sometimes grade them out and it puts more pressure on you,” Bianco joked. “I didn’t realize that. (Mike Clement) told me that. Some of their favorites are fictional ones, but I’m more of a nonfiction guy. They seem to like the fictional ones.”

He has enough so not to rotate them to the same roster members more than once, and he’s always looking to add to the collection. Here’s a sampling of stories from this season.