FAYETTEVILLE — Dave Van Horn’s former players are making their way through the opposing dugout at Baum-Walker Stadium with regularity.
Arkansas fans might not recognize all of them, though. That’s because several of the visiting coaches who played for Van Horn did so at Nebraska from 1998-2002.
A former player will be in the opposing dugout again this weekend when the No. 4 Razorbacks host Illinois State. The Redbirds’ first-year pitching coach, R.D. Spiehs, was a three-year pitcher for Van Horn at Nebraska from 1999-2001.
Spiehs, who spent the previous three seasons as the pitching coach at Arkansas-Little Rock, will be making his third trip to Fayetteville since 2019.
“You’re focused on pitch to pitch and what your guys are doing, but to look over there and see him flash the signs, you can’t help but smile a little bit,” Spiehs said.
“It’s cool to look over or get a handshake before the game, talk about family….It’s nice to reopen the yearbook for a second.”
Illinois State pitching coach R.D. Spiehs is shown during a scrimmage against Eastern Illinois on Saturday, Oct. 9, 2021, in Normal, Ill. (Photo courtesy Illinois State Athletics)
Spiehs is one of at least five former Van Horn players at Nebraska who are now head coaches or assistant coaches in Division I. Will Bolt (Nebraska), Jay Sirianni (Sam Houston State) and Andy Sawyers (Southeast Missouri State) are head coaches, and Justin Seely is an assistant coach at Oklahoma State.
All but Sirianni have been in the visiting dugout at Baum-Walker Stadium within the past four years. Former Arkansas player Trevor Ezell also came back to Fayetteville as a member of Sawyer’s SEMO coaching staff last year.
Bolt was also visitor a year ago. The Razorbacks won a thrilling regional over Nebraska last June.
Rob Childress was the pitching coach for all five of Van Horn’s seasons at Nebraska. He said the Cornhuskers’ roster was full of high-character players.
“We didn’t just hit the jackpot on talented guys,” Childress said. “We hit the jackpot on guys who had great makeup, were incredibly hungry and competitive guys. To me, that far outweighed the talent.”
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The Cornhuskers had a record of 214-94 and won Big 12 regular-season titles in three seasons under Van Horn. After falling one win shy of the College World Series in 2000, Nebraska went for the first time in 2001 and repeated the following year before Van Horn was hired away by Arkansas.
Spiehs, who started a game at the College World Series, credits work ethic learned under Van Horn for his coaching success, and indicates it has been a factor for his old teammates who are now coaches.
“I would call it the regiment of right,” Spiehs said. “There’s just a standard when it comes to practice, classroom, weight room, how you are as a person and how you work as a player, where you either meet the standard or you do not. And if you don’t, that’s OK, you can still play baseball, it’s just not for Dave Van Horn."
In addition to the coaches in Division I, Spiehs and Childress noted other former Cornhuskers who are involved in the game. Among them are Adam Stern, a coach for the Canadian junior national team, and Drew Anderson, a regional cross checker for the Milwaukee Brewers.
Joe Simokaitis was a former junior college coach and volunteer assistant coach at Saint Louis University.
Spiehs, who grew up in Nebraska and signed before Van Horn was hired from Northwestern (La.) State, said it wasn’t an accident so many former Cornhuskers have been successful in coaching.
“There was a high level of expectation," Spiehs said. "You either did or you did not, and if you didn’t you weren’t wearing a ‘Husker uniform for very long.”
In most cases, Van Horn’s former players in the profession are extensions of his expansive coaching tree, either having worked for him or one of his former assistant coaches.
Spiehs worked under UALR coach Chris Curry, a former volunteer assistant at Arkansas. Sawyers and Sirianni got their coaching starts as volunteer and graduate assistants under Van Horn at Nebraska, and Bolt and Seely were long-time assistant coaches to Childress at Texas A&M.
“He is such a great mentor to young coaches,” said Childress, who is in his first season as the director of player development at Nebraska. “Dave is incredibly competitive and a great motivator, but I think one of his greatest gifts is he lets those around him work.
“It was all made easy because of the blueprint that Dave showed me as an assistant for him. I don’t know that he set out to do that, but when you’re around someone who is your boss and you’re successful in an organization, you want to try to model that blueprint when you become the leader of a program. Certainly that influence is spread far and wide.”
Texas A&M coach Rob Childress, left, and Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn shake hands prior to a game Saturday, April 30, 2016, at Baum Stadium in Fayetteville. (Andy Shupe/Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette)