Story by: GoBlueRaiders.com

Middle Tennessee softball Head Coach Jeff Breeden brought his winning pedigree to Murfreesboro and rebuilt a still young Blue Raider program back into a conference champion.

After 22 seasons of coaching high school softball with a career winning percentage of .803, Breeden was hired by Athletic Director Chris Massaro in July 2012. A seven-win season in 2013 turned into a 2018 Conference USA championship and MT’s second NCAA Tournament appearance. Since Breeden and his Blue Raiders hoisted the C-USA trophy two years ago, they’ve seen continued success both on and off the field.

In addition to the improved product on the field, the park itself has improved. Breeden, who supervised reconstruction to Coffee County Central High School and Riverdale High School softball fields, has recently helped with the ongoing updates to Blue Raider Softball Field.

Breeden recently sat down with GoBlueRaiders.com to talk about his career and program developments.

How did you become a softball coach?

My mom played softball, so I was around softball all of my young life. Growing up, I thought I’d be a football coach, and I have been a football coach. I had an opportunity at one of my first teaching jobs to start working as the assistant girl’s basketball coach. I liked working with that group because those girls give it everything they’ve got. There was a job available, and I took it, and we had a lot of success. It was kind of like being in the right place at the right time. I had some other background in it, as well. I umpired a lot when I was in college, so the sport was just a good fit for me.

Going all the way back to your Coffee County days, what did you learn by building that program up from nearly nothing?

That program had been in existence for one year when I took it over, so it really was like building from the ground up. Coffee County is a little different because they’ve got two high schools in the county, so everybody gets fired up and into it. We had great support there from the time we started, and we had some great athletes. We went to the state tournament a few times and built a facility there that still gets packed all the time. That was a really good stop for me there that springboarded me into coming to Riverdale, where we had a great run there. We had great athletes and community support there as well. I’ve been fortunate enough to work for good principals everywhere I’ve been in teaching and now working for Chris [Massaro] here at MT.

What was the transition like from coaching high school softball to coaching college softball?

The speed of the game is faster. Every little detail, if you make a mistake, is magnified. In the high school game, your infielders have to be good, but your outfielders can make a mistake every now and then. In college, everyone is a good hitter. Your pitchers have to be on every pitch, and you can’t take a break. The big difference is in the outfield play. Your outfielders and their transition with the ball from the outfield to the infield has to be better than it was at an earlier age, or your weaknesses will get exposed.

Slowly but surely, you built the Blue Raider program from seven wins in your first year to a Conference USA Championship in 2018. What made that rebuild happen?

At the end of every year, we asked ‘How can we make recruiting better? How can we get better players? What kind of team do we want to be built around? What do we have to do to make these pieces work?’ At the end of every year, we evaluated every aspect of our program, from coaching to recruiting to strength and conditioning to academics to what we were doing in the community. Finally after several years of working at it, we got the right people. Those seniors that won the championship for us were the right people. We all got to believing in one another, and they turned this thing around, and we haven’t looked back since then. The key to it is getting the right personnel and everybody believing in what you’re doing.

You supervised the reconstruction of the softball fields at Coffee County and Riverdale, and you’ve been a major part of the recent changes at Blue Raider Softball Field. How important is it to have top notch facilities in order to run a successful program?

Our school sells itself to recruits. It’s a beautiful campus, and Murfreesboro is a great place to live. Our proximity to Nashville does that. The fact that we are a Nike school and buy directly from Nike is huge. Everybody wants to know, ‘Am I going to wear the swoosh?’ The next piece is facilities. What we did last year with the video board and padded walls has gone a long way. We’ve got the best grass and dirt in the league without question. Our guys do a great job of managing our turf, and we’re proud of that. When we start in August this year with a new entryway and the other upgrades, it should just make our fan experience much better than it has been. It’s going to be something that everyone will be proud of.

Since your staff signed C-USA’s best 2020 recruiting class, what do you see in the program’s future?

We’re headed on the up-and-up. Time will tell. Once you get those kids here, you’ve got to make them better each year. You can’t let them stay stagnant. We’ve got to develop them and make them better players when they leave than when they came in. If we can do that, we’ll be fine. We’re going to have another great recruiting class right behind the ’20 class. I feel really great about where we are.

Right now, they can’t be together as one. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, NFL players currently aren’t permitted to work out at club facilities, and that includes the Titans in Nashville. But that doesn’t mean they can’t gather in small groups, which is exactly what some of the Titans are doing to prepare for the 2020 season.

By now, you’ve probably heard about quarterback Ryan Tannehill and tight end Jonnu Smith throwing passes and working out together while in South Florida. Several other Titans are working out together as well, on offense, and on defense.

Quarterback Logan Woodside, who will compete for the No.2 spot behind Tannehill, is doing his part to help guys in Nashville get ready. Woodside has been throwing regularly with receiver Corey Davis and tight end Anthony Firkser, and receiver A.J. Brown said on Wednesday he’s been working with Woodside as well. Veteran receiver Adam Humphries has joined the mix some days as well, along with some of the undrafted rookie free agents who’ve made their way to town.

“I think we are going out there with the attitude to get better, and we are building that chemistry,” Woodside said. “We’re just getting ready for whenever the time is, whenever it is safe to go back. We want to get that timing down.” Woodside said the players have worked at different fields, and facilities, around town.

“We’re just being aware of the guidelines throughout Nashville and what the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) is recommending, so we’re taking that very seriously while getting some work in,” Woodside said.

“We are trying to be creative and trying to find safe places to throw and improve. It has been a challenge a little bit, but it is something we are doing, and we are improving in that area.”

Players on the defensive side of the ball are doing the same. Jeffery Simmons said on Wednesday he’s worked some with fellow defensive lineman DaQuan Jones.

Safety Kevin Byard has been working with several of the team’s defensive backs, including Tye Smith and Kareem Orr. Linebacker Josh Smith has also been working with the group, and defensive back Kenneth Durden was expected to join the players this week as well.

Strength and conditioning coach Jason Spray, who trained Byard while at MTSU, has worked with the players to get them ready. The on-field work has been done in addition to the work the players are doing in the team’s virtual offseason program.

Right now, it’s unclear when players will be allowed to return to Saint Thomas Sports Park. “I am pretty sure we’re going to have more guys in when they come back to town,” Byard said. “It is fun to have the guys with me working out, building good camaraderie. I always say when you work out with guys and you sweat and you go through those things in the offseason, it builds onto the football field. It is just fun.”

The Coffee County Central High School athletic department announced on Friday the winners of the senior athlete of the year for each sport.  Selected by the coach for each respective team, the senior of the year was announced on Graduation Day.   Seventeen seniors were honored for their contributions in the 2019-2020 school year. 

Girls’ tennis, Boys’ Swim, Girls’ Cross Country, Cheer and Golf teams did not have a senior competing during the school year.  For fall sports, senior winners were: Jenna Garretson – Girls’ Soccer; Volleyball – Keelie Hillis; Football – Collin Ward and Boys’ Cross Country – Christian Alvarez.  For winter sports, senior winners were: Ellie Graham – Girls’ Basketball; Jaylon Wooten – Boys’ Basketball; Wrestling – Christopher Speagle and Swim – Kaylee Williams.  For spring sports, senior winners were: Boys’ Tennis – Jonah Rollman; Boys’ Soccer – Leo Suarez; Softball – Gracie Pippenger; Baseball – Hayden Skipper; Boys’ Track – Jacob Melton and Girls’ Track – Trava Brown.  For year-round sports, senior winners were: Dance – Lizzie Freeze; Bass Club – Jacob Garms and Claybusters – Hayden Jacobs. 

The summer swim lessons have begun at the Johansen residence, but it’s not Predators centerman Ryan who needs extra work in the pool.

“He’s staying afloat, so that’s good,” Johansen said with a laugh, while giving an update on how his bulldog, Dozer, has been handling the pause to the NHL season.

Johansen addressed his furry friend and plenty of other topics on a Thursday afternoon video chat from Nashville, where he’s been hunkering down for the last two months. He was recently joined in Tennessee by his brother, Lucas, after the American Hockey League officially canceled their season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The younger Johansen plays for the AHL’s Hershey Bears, and the brothers have been working out together, partially for something to do, but also because the elder of the two might be back on the ice sooner than later.

The NHL and NHLPA continue to discuss options to return to the ice this summer, and one of Nashville’s top skaters has been keeping close watch on the developments, eager for a chance to resume play at some point.

“It’s like everything right now, it’s so unique and confusing in a lot of ways, but I guess my biggest thing is I want it to be as normal as possible before we get going,” Johansen said of the prospect of playing games this summer. “Of course, we’re not going to play hockey tomorrow and all that, but… it’s just tough. I mean, it’s going to happen playing in front of no fans, that’s just how it seems now. But just playing the Stanley Cup Playoffs with no fans is going to be strange, but it’s something we all need to accept and embrace just so we can go out there and play for the fans [watching at home].

“I just want to get back to normal as soon as possible where we can play in front of fans, but at the same time, you want to finish the year and give it a run in the playoffs.”

The pause to the 2019-20 season has now reached its 10th week, and the past two months have been full of hypothetical scenarios. One of the main issues that has come to be known in that timeframe is that nothing is certain. The landscape of the world can look drastically different from one day to the next, and the NHL has not been immune to that fact.

What Johansen and his fellow players are starting to realize is there probably isn’t going to be a perfect scenario in the weeks and months to come. However, there is still plenty of optimism that a return-to-play plan will be agreed upon allowing NHL hockey to return this summer.

“I’m following it very closely, and we’re getting updated constantly with new ideas, new plans and just communication with the NHLPA through the League and all the players,” Johansen said. “I guess the biggest thing is… we just want something where everyone’s happy with it. It sounds a lot easier [said] than done, but at the end of the day, you just want everyone to say, ‘OK, you know it’s not perfect, but we’re happy with it. Let’s go.’

Discussion over the format has been a hot topic since the start of the pause, and earlier in the week, NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman confirmed the League is looking at host cities to serve as hubs that can accommodate a dozen teams or so for a potential restart.

A playoff-only style tournament seems to be gaining ground around the League, but as far as Johansen is concerned, he just wants to play.

“I don’t think I’m worried about formats,” Johansen said. “It is what it is. I don’t think there’s going to be a perfect scenario where everyone’s super excited about it, but as long as everyone can agree and be happy with the decision that will be made, that’s really all that matters. There’s obviously going to be a little complaining with guys maybe not over the moon about the situation. The bottom line is there’s no excuses. You’ve got to go out there, embrace the situation, just play hockey and try and win.

“There’s been a lot of talk about there’ll be an asterisk on this year. At the end of the day, you’ve got a team playing against another team. If you win, you win. If you lose, you lose. That’s the bottom line, so I think that’s how our group and myself will be looking at it.”

That group was on the upswing prior to the pause, and just like many of his teammates have stated over the past two months, Johansen is confident in what the Preds could do if given another chance to play again.

“We’re feeling good about ourselves, and you want to keep that feeling,” Johansen said. “The puck drops, and you’re hungry to keep moving in the right direction… We had an opportunity there down the stretch to really finish strong and set ourselves up in a playoff spot, so I think our group will still be really hungry to start something and not focusing on anything other than how we finished off and then our coming together. We all feel good about ourselves.”

Just how and when they’ll get to test that confidence remains to be seen, but as discussion between the NHL and NHLPA continues, it may not be long before we find out. And if Johansen has it his way, swimming lessons might just take a backseat to summer hockey for the first time ever.

“I don’t think there’s going to be a perfect scenario where everyone’s going to be happy,” Johansen said. “But if we can kind of meet in the middle, where everyone agrees to it, and then just go there and play, [that will be good]. During the games, you’ve got 20 men versus 20 men, and you try and outplay the other guys. It’s as simple as that. Just worry about yourselves and our own team and try to outplay the other teams. That’s really all it is.”