Mike Boyd is ready to do the job he was chosen to do.
“We hired him because everything that he brings to the program, he is enthusiastic, he had very detailed and ambitious plan for building the program, he has experience as a high school and college level player, he works with an elite travel baseball team and he really impressed us with his knowledge of the game and his plans for our program,” says Andover’s athletic coordinator R. J. Guizzetti, who hired Boyd as the 2010 varsity baseball coach.
According to Boyd, the 2009 baseball season was a down year despite the winning record. Boyd believes that the talent and aggressive attitude of the players and his strong coaching staff will generate unprecedented success by the Barons baseball program.
“This program is taking a 180 degree turn,” Boyd says. “From day one my expectations are set extremely high. I expect players to come out to the baseball field and put everything else aside and focus on baseball for the time, not school, not girls, not anything but baseball. From the feedback that I have gotten, more kids are working towards the goal of success than they did in the past so that is definitely a positive thing and we are going to try to keep that going and build that year by year.  The team will definitly be a lot more structured than in previous years and it will have a more college-minded approach, which is what I teach.  I teach a higher level of baseball while still reenforcing the fundamentals.”
Boyd has experience playing baseball at the high school and college levels, but also has a lot of experience coaching elite travel baseball teams. His summer travel team, the South Oakland A’s, are in top ten teams in the nations for the sixteen-year-old age group.
“When I got this position I thought it was an opportunity to take over a program and start implementing all my ideas and my knowledge that I obtained from playing baseball at Eastern Michigan and start bringing it to the players,” Boyd continues, “Coaching the South Oakland A’s has put me in situations which I know are as big as or bigger than the competition in high school. This makes me feel comfortable leading the (Andover team) into the 2010 season.”
The varsity players are excited about their team under the direction of a new coach.
“He is a player’s coach compared to our old coach (Dan Smith), he relates to the players a lot better (than our old coach) and he has instilled an idea of hard work,” says senior captain Ryan Bloom.  “I have seen guys that don’t usually work hard work a lot harder this year. Really, the overall value of our coaching is improved from last year. What our coaches know in terms of new techniques, new mechanics, new ideas behind the game is better.”
“The enthusiasm is there, the knowledge is there, and the players are really excited for the season,” Guizetti says.
Boyd has experience playing baseball at the high school and college levels, but also has a lot of experience coaching elite travel baseball teams. His summer travel team, the South Oakland A’s, are in top ten teams in the nations for the sixteen-year-old age group.
“When I got this position I thought it was an opportunity to take over a program and start implementing all my ideas and my knowledge that I obtained from playing baseball at Eastern Michigan and start bringing it to the players,” Boyd continues, “Coaching the South Oakland A’s has put me in situations which I know are as big as or bigger than the competition in high school. This makes me feel comfortable leading the (Andover team) into the 2010 season.”
The varsity players are excited about their team under the direction of a new coach.
“He is a player’s coach compared to our old coach (Dan Smith), he relates to the players a lot better (than our old coach) and he has instilled an idea of hard work,” says senior captain Ryan Bloom.  “I have seen guys that don’t usually work hard work a lot harder this year. Really, the overall value of our coaching is improved from last year. What our coaches know in terms of new techniques, new mechanics, new ideas behind the game is better.”
Guizetti concludes, “The enthusiasm is there, the knowledge is there, and the players are really excited for the season.”