Hofman Builds On His Legacy At SLAM Charter

As he begins the next and final stop in his historic 42-year coaching career, legendary coach Rich Hofman has had a career that a coach on any level would envy.

With a laundry list of accolades to his name, including a Florida high school-record 1,001 career wins, two national titles (1992, 1996) and 10 state titles, Hofman had little to prove in a decorated career that has spanned over six decades. But when he was presented with the opportunity to build a program from scratch at the new Sports Leadership and Management Charter School (SLAM) two blocks from Marlins Park in Miami, it was a deal too good to pass up.

A concept that came to life when classes began in August 2013, SLAM is a state-of-the-art, seven-story, sports-based high school under the Mater Academy umbrella of charter schools. SLAM’s curriculum will permit students in grades six through 12 to take sports-based courses like physical therapy, sports management, and sports medicine along with their core courses like math and science.

Hofman will serve as the Titans’ first athletic director and baseball manager after stepping down as the manager of University School in Fort Lauderdale last January.

The concept was first presented to him ten years ago by current principal Alex Tamargo, one of Hofman’s former players at Westminster Christian during the Alex Rodriguez era in the 1990s. Tamargo told Hofman about his vision for an all-sports school and said if it ever came to be, he’d like him to be his athletic director and baseball coach. Ten years later, Tamargo made good on his vision and Hofman accepted the challenge.

“Every program is different, every experience is different, and this one is no exception. I’ve been in just about every school that you can be at now, so this is a new adventure for me and I look forward to the challenge,” Hofman said.

For Hofman, the primary challenge is building a competitive team from scratch. With parts of the school still under construction, there are roughly 800 students enrolled this year in grades sixth through tenth, sprinkled in with a handful of juniors on campus.

“We’re going to be young, obviously, because we don’t have any seniors,” said Hofman. “We have two or three juniors; we have a lot of freshman and sophomores. Obviously you don’t win championships with freshman and sophomores, but we do have some young men with some pretty good baseball ability and so I think we’ve got a work in progress.”

Another challenge for Hofman is facilities. The basketball and volleyball teams will have the luxury of playing in the 500-seat, seventh floor gymnasium with scenic views that overlook Marlins Park and the city of Miami. Since the school doesn’t have the available land for a field, the baseball team will split its home games between nearby Curtis Park and St. Thomas University in Miami Gardens.

“We’ll have the best facilities in the whole city for volleyball and basketball, but we won’t have them for baseball,” said Hofman.

Despite the challenge of playing without a true home field, Hofman says coaching a group of dedicated baseball players keeps him in tune with the game.

“The one thing I like most about the majority of our kids is they’re really hungry for baseball and they love the game and they would rather practice than do anything else,” Hofman said. “I love kids that are hungry, so to come back to the jungle, as Miami is called, its nice to have those kind of kids that want to play the game. And they have listened well so far.”

With no seniors on the roster, the Titans will be one of the youngest teams in Miami-Dade County. However, under Hofman’s watchful eye, a number of players will look to make names for themselves over the next three to four years.

At the plate, look for up and coming players like freshman Jeter Downs, a transfer from Mater Academy East who hit .441 with 23 RBIs and 26 runs scored as an eighth grader playing varsity last season. Joining Downs from Mater East is freshman catcher Jose Garcia (.392 B.A., 18 RBI, 13 R), junior pitcher/first baseman Andrew Velez from Mourning High in North Miami, sophomores Brian Frias, Javier Camacho, in addition to Nick Videll and Anthony Vilar.

On the mound the Titans are still working on the rotation, but they expect key contributions from Velez and lefty Justin Leiva. For any new team, this area is the most crucial but also one that will likely take the longest to round into shape. The greatest upside comes in that the team will likely have the same arms for the next few years, which will give the coaches ample time to bring them along.

“As a team we want to win as many games as we can,” Velez said. “We do have a young team, but we have a lot of talent on the team that can develop very well throughout the next few years.”

The lack of senior leadership makes the Titans a unique team in their first season.

“It’s different, at other schools the seniors lead everything,” Frias said. “Here its kind of just mixed in, the stretches are run by a junior, sophomore, and a freshman.”

SLAM will roll out their version of a farm system with a varsity, junior varsity, and a middle school team. In regards to the varsity and jv squads, most players will not know where they will end up until just before the season begins. Since the entire roster is new, no starting job is set in stone. Every player is competing against his teammates to earn his job.

“Chemistry is a very viable thing, but it’s also cruel sometimes,” Hofman admitted. “As a coach my biggest job is to try to keep everybody together in a positive frame of mind making sure that everybody realizes their role.”

For a coach that has helped 190 players receive college scholarships and seen 45 more drafted off his high school rosters, Hofman hasn’t faced the task of building and entire program since he started coaching at Westminster Christian in 1967. Since the Titans can’t compete for a playoff spot this season, the focus will be on winning as many games as possible and improving as a team each day. Joining Hofman on the coaching staff is his son Dave Hofman, coaches Josh Rudd, Al Lopez and Alfonso “Flaco” Otero.

“Because I’ve been able to win some national championships and some state titles, I know what it takes to win,” Hofman said.

He demands the best out of his players and he isn’t afraid to let them know when they don’t perform to their capabilities. The young Titans players will admit that it takes some mental toughness to player under coach Hofman.

“It’s different, you have to learn so much,” Frias said. “Failure is not an option with him; you have to do your best to succeed.”

The message wasn’t hard to get across for a coach who has been teaching baseball long before any of his players were born.

“I’m really listening to my coaches and everything they say is ‘Yes, coach,’ and I go out and do it the best I can,” Velez said. “How I develop depends on how much effort I put in.”

Although Hofman takes pride in winning, his ultimate goal as a high school coach is to help his players become better men.

“That’s my major goal in all of my programs over the years is to get kids to the next level,” said Hofman. “If we were just worried about kids having fun in high school, then we could just call it recess. For me baseball is a serious business, it’s all about life, it’s about developing you at the highest level that you can possibly attain.”

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