If you are a long-time VandyBoys fan, you might notice someone on staff who looks familiar. In the summer of 2023, Vanderbilt Baseball head coach Tim Corbin announced the addition of former player Ro Coleman to the staff as the second recipient of the Maggie Corbin Minority Baseball Apprenticeship. 

“Vanderbilt baseball and the university changed my life,” Coleman said. “[The Corbins] care more about you as a human being than you as a baseball player, and I think that’s why Corbs has been able to have continued success year in and year out.”

Anyone who has seen Coleman play knows he is a clutch player. Coleman was the smallest player on the roster for all four years of his collegiate career, listed at 5’5” and 150 pounds, but carried a big presence on the field. Coleman wore #1 for the Commodores and was a switch-hitting outfielder with a stellar career for the Black and Gold. Coleman contributed to the program’s first College World Series Championship in 2014 as a freshman and numerous post-season runs. Yet, as an inner-city kid coming to a place like Vanderbilt, Coleman struggled to find his sense of belonging on campus. It was the Corbins, whom Coleman lived with for the summer going into his freshman year, that gave Coleman the space to be himself.

“The confidence that they gave me to embrace who I am and where I come from and thrive in this environment is just special,” Coleman said. “[The Corbins] care about investing in people and helping others when they don’t have to and they truly mean it on a daily basis.”

During his time at Vanderbilt, Coleman was not only immensely skilled and a staple name in the Commodore lineup but also someone who those around him knew would positively impact the world. 

“When this young man [Coleman] leaves the baseball program, he will impact a community and state,” Corbin said in 2017. “He is a unique young man who will be able to promote positive change in many.”

Coleman did just that. After being drafted by the Detroit Tigers in the 2017 MLB Draft, Coleman spent one year in the Tigers’ minor league system before retiring. 

Once he finished playing baseball, Coleman knew he wanted to pursue a career as a coach, something he always had an affinity for. Growing up in Chicago, Ill., Coleman and his peers always had role models, one of whom was Coleman’s dad, the late Big Ro, who played in college and professionally before continuing to coach the next generation of baseball players. Alongside the coaching Coleman experienced from his father, his mother was also a teacher, making Coleman believe that coaching and teaching were in his blood.

“[Coaching] was something I always wanted to pursue and was passionate about,” Coleman said. “[When I played] for the White Sox charities, it was a lot of African Americans that were our mentors and coaches, and that instilled into us [a mindset] to always give back no matter what.”

Coleman returned to Nashville where he started a non-profit committed to educating and empowering young athletes through baseball and creating opportunities on and off the field. He also started a podcast with some of his best friends, who he played with at Vanderbilt, to educate young athletes who aspire to play at the Division I level. This was where Coleman saw himself giving back to the baseball community. However, when Coleman’s best friend from home, Jabari Brown, was able to work for the Vanderbilt Baseball team for two years as the first Maggie Corbin Apprentice, his mind was opened up to the potential of taking the next step.

“[Seeing Brown move on from the role and] pursue college coaching, [becoming a college coach as well] really started to cross my mind,” Coleman said. “It was time to take the next step, and [then] this opportunity opened up and I was so thankful and grateful to Maggie and Corbs [for offering it to me].”

Maggie Corbin, who has been married to Tim Corbin for over 20 years and is actively involved with the baseball program, came up with the idea for the apprenticeship. Together, with the help of Vanderbilt athletic director Candice Story Lee, the Corbins established the apprenticeship program in 2020. The apprenticeship is awarded to a minority candidate to expand the number of minority coaches in baseball. Under the apprenticeship program, the candidates get to see the inner workings of one of the premier baseball teams in Division I, where they gain tools and resources to make their goals of coaching a reality. The Corbins fund the apprenticeship so the candidate can live in Nashville and be fully committed to the team. 

“Let’s be actionable about it and provide an opportunity to someone. Those doors aren’t easily opened,” Corbin said. “The root of it is really the fact that at the foundational level where kids decide to play the game or not, they’re looking for people like themselves who are either playing it or coaching it.”

The Corbins and Coleman remained close even after Coleman’s playing days were over. When Coleman’s father passed in 2020, it was Corbin, with Maggie in attendance, who gave the eulogy. So when Coleman received the apprenticeship and returned to campus, it was a true full-circle moment between him and the Corbins.

“It means everything [to have Coleman back with the program],” Corbin said in a pre-season press conference in January. 

Looking back on his journey to get to his current position, Coleman contributes a lot of his confidence to the Corbins and the way they embraced him as more than just a player, allowing him to be his true authentic self. Coleman also emphasized how the creation of the apprenticeship program reflects who the Corbins are and how they make the world around them a better place.

“We know [there is] not a lot of Black players or coaches in the game of baseball,” Coleman said. “[Vanderbilt] always has a lot of African Americans on [the] roster, but for [the Corbins] to start a position like this to open up the doors to allow more Black coaches to be in college baseball [shows] they’re special and they care about people. I can’t thank them enough for all they’ve done for me and they continue to do for others in the program.”

During his time with the team, Coleman has enjoyed building relationships with the players and watching them mature and grow in the system. 

“The biggest thing for me is the relationship building, not just with the staff but with the kids. I love it,” Coleman said. “[Creating] relationships and watching the young men grow into adults is special and it reminds me of being back at Vandy…being able to have relationships [and] to see them grow on the field also is truly fulfilling to me.”

From the opportunity the apprenticeship program has offered him, Coleman wants to pursue a career as a coach and help the next generation of baseball players. Coleman hopes that young Black players will see him in his position and realize they too can pursue a baseball career at the highest level, as a player or a coach. 

“I’m always going to stay true to who I am and I want kids to know that you can come from a background like me and be yourself,” Coleman said. “Whether it’s in a coaching role or whether it’s on a playing field, I think when you are able to be yourself that is when you truly blossom. This role has created not just an opportunity for me but others as well.”