By: Joey Mullins
 
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. -- Today, we continue our series named the S-Club Profile, focusing on former student-athletes and giving updates on what they have been up to since finishing their Samford playing careers. In today's 10th edition, we will highlight Brad Moss, who was a catcher on the baseball team from 2009 to 2012, and now serves on the team's coaching staff.
 
Moss was the starting catcher on Samford's first Southern Conference Tournament championship team, and NCAA Regional team in 2012. The championship came in a dramatic, 9-6, 10-inning win over a Georgia Southern team that had defeated Samford in the title game a year earlier by a score of 1-0.
 
The Bulldogs returned all but a couple of pitchers and all but a couple of position players from that 2011 squad. Moss said going into that season, he and his teammates felt confident that they could compete for the championship again.
 
"When you bring all of those back after losing in a championship game, 1-0, you have to feel pretty confident going into the next year," Moss said. "I remember that fall, there was no doubt we would be in contention for the conference championship. We were definitely very confident going into that next year for what our season was going to be like."
 
The Bulldogs were sent to Florida State University for the NCAA Tallahassee Regional, where the team would take on SEC Tournament champion Mississippi State. The Bulldogs won that first game over Mississippi State, 5-0, and Samford defeated MSU a second time, between a pair of losses to host and third-ranked ranked Florida State. Moss said he had many fond memories from that weekend in Tallahassee.
 
"Playing on that stage, there's nothing like it," Moss said. "Mississippi State's fans were fantastic. When we beat them on Florida State's campus in 2012, they gave a standing ovation to (starting pitcher) Charles Basford, and that is a memorable moment in my mind because of how gracious their fans were for good baseball. Playing on that stage was awesome. Playing on ESPN2 against Florida State and their seven thousand fans chanting K-Time every time we got two strikes was great. I have a lot of memories from that regional. It's an experience that will never be wiped out of my memory."
 
Moss came to Samford from Calhoun High School in Georgia. Moss said one of his favorite things about Samford was how much the faculty cares about their students.
 
"What I loved most was, in the classroom I was really close with my teachers," Moss said. "I was one of 20 people and they knew me by name. If I left for a weekend with baseball, I was able to communicate with them and get the work I needed to do, and if I was struggling I was able to talk with them."
 
Moss played four seasons for Head Coach Casey Dunn and his staff. Moss said he really enjoyed the way Dunn and his staff ran their program.
 
"I loved the fact that the coaches were willing to push me and the high level of baseball being played here." Moss said. "Obviously, we won more games every year, so, the baseball experience got better each year. Anytime you win, you're going to love where you are."
 
Following his playing career with the Bulldogs, Moss spent three seasons (2013-15) in the San Francisco Giants organization, briefly reaching the Triple-A level in 2014, where he played for the Fresno Grizzlies of the Pacific Coast League. Moss said, while he enjoyed aspects of professional baseball, there was just a different mindset than there is in the college game.
 
"I think the hardest thing for me was, in college you play for your teammates and you play for your school, and it's a lot more than just the name on the back of your jersey," Moss said. "In pro ball, especially in the minor leagues, you're just trying to make it. It's not so much about wins and losses, it's more about you personally and your achievements. That was tough for me, coming from Samford and the college game, trying to switch mindsets and I was just not good at that.
 
"Obviously, when you play on that stage, there are a few more fans in the stands as you move up, and that was awesome," Moss said. "But I think the hardest part for me was changing to personalized goals versus team goals."
 
At the conclusion of his playing career, Moss went into coaching. He said the thought of going into coaching first came to him during his senior season at Samford when Tommy Walker, a former Samford head coach and the father of Moss' Samford teammate Gil Walker, pulled him aside and suggested coaching might be a good fit for him. However, he received an offer from a professional baseball team and decided to try the professional game out before going into coaching.
 
"I got a call from the Giants and took that offer with the thought in mind that this will help me with my coaching career, so I need to learn as much as possible here," Moss said. "I always knew I wanted to coach from then on. So, when I was in pro ball, that was always in the back of my mind as kind of a Plan B if it didn't work out. I took that job with a grain of salt trying to figure out, what is the baseball game at this level like, and how can I provide instruction at the college level when I leave here."
 
Moss served as the volunteer assistant baseball coach at the University of Montevallo from the fall of 2015 to the spring of 2017, where he coached catchers and assisted with hitters. During the 2018 season, Moss was the recruiting coordinator at Lawson State Community College. On the field, he coached hitters and catchers.
 
Moss said he felt like the experience he gained at Lawson State was very beneficial to his development as a coach.
 
"I enjoyed going to Lawson, and I appreciate everything Coach (Blake) Lewis over there has done for me," Moss said. "He let me kind of have free hands. I could coach as much as I want and recruit as much as I want. That actually made me a ton better coach."
 
In 2019, Moss got the call from Dunn to come back to Samford to serve on his staff as a volunteer assistant.
 
"Once (former volunteer assistant coach) Hunter Morris left, Coach Dunn called me again and asked if I would like this job," Moss said. "Obviously, I was going to say yes, it was always my goal to get back to Samford."
 
In the 2021 season, the Bulldogs won the program's third Southern Conference Tournament title and third NCAA Regional bid. Moss talked about some of the differences in experiencing an NCAA Regional as a coach as opposed to participating as a player.
 
"I would say it's less stressful as a player," Moss said. "You just kind of play. You're hanging out with your best friends, while schools out; there's nothing better than that. Postseason baseball as a player is electric.
 
"But as a coach, it's a little bit different," Moss said. "You're trying to individually work on each person, and you're trying to study each team and what they do differently. There's no doubt that it's a lot more stressful and a lot more work to coach, but it's actually more rewarding as a coach to see all of those guys be successful. Just because you're more responsible for more people."
 
Moss said, like most assistant coaches, his ultimate goal is to be in charge of his own program as the head coach. He said he feels like the leadership skills he gained as both a player and so far in his coaching career will allow him to one day reach his goal.
 
Moss is married to the former Arica Dykes, a former standout on the Samford softball team. The couple has one daughter, Emma Kathryn, who is 14 months old.  
 
For more information on the S-Club, contact Hal Langston at hlangst1@samford.edu. For giving opportunities, please contact Maggie Folker at mrountr1@samford.edu.