Dave Eiland played 10 seasons of Major Leauge Baseball and was a big-league pitching coach for 11 more. But in his heart, the one stop and uniform that meant the most was the time he spent in USF green and gold.
Eiland, who grew up in nearby Zephyrhills and graduated from high school there, pitched for the Bulls from 1986 and 1987 and was drafted in the 7th round that year by the New York Yankees. That launched a career that included stops with the Yankees, San Diego Padres, and the expansion Tampa Bay Devil Rays.
"It's good to be home. This is where it all started. 
This is where the foundation was laid," he said. "This place means a lot to me. I can't be more grateful, I'm as excited about this as any other job I've ever, ever had."
Eiland is the new pitching coach for the Bulls, bringing his 36 combined years as a player, coach, and front office executive to the place that helped form him. In a sitdown Thursday morning with Green, Gold, and Bold, it was clear that he wasn't just saying those words because they sound good. It was an unmistakable sincerity and gratitude for the chance to apply what he has learned to a place and program that prepared him a career in the game he loves.
"There were some other opportunities. I could have been other places with possibly brighter lights and different things like that," he said. "But, you know, there's a lot to be said, what's to be said about being someplace that you want to be."
USF baseball needs what Eiland has -- particularly on the pitching side, where the Bulls best starter from last season, Michael Senay, has entered the Transfer Portal. He will use analytics as a tool, but pitching with the correct fundamentals will matter more.
First thing I do is break down video of them on their pitching ability. For me, it starts with, their delivery, mechanical. athleticism. And then you meet with them, and you kind of get a sense of their aptitude," he said.
"Do they have the aptitude, the body awareness, to make certain adjustments they need to make? 
I mean, let's face it, kids, 18, 19, 20 years old, they're not finished products, right? They're far from it. A lot of big leaguers aren't finished products."
Eiland can certainly command the pitching room. His resume includes two World Series championships as a pitching coach --2009 New York Yankees and 2015 Kansas City Royals, Eiland coached multiple Major League all stars, 20-game winners, two Cy Young award winners and three Hall of Famers -- Mariano Rivera, Mike Mussina and CC Sabathia.
"Even with pitching and the data, and all this sort of stuff. It comes down to executing pitches. If you can't execute pitches, it doesn't matter what your spin rate is. It's valuable information, but you gotta be able to deliver the baseball correctly and make pitches and execute pitches," he said.
"Can you make adjustments? That is a big one. If you're what. I call the, I'm good guy -- no, no, I'm good, I'm good, I'm good -- you don't want those guys, because they think they've got it figured out. They got it mastered, and they're not going to make adjustments they need to make to be the best version of themselves. 
So those are the type of guys you want to stay away from."
The Bulls are coming off a maddening season. After starting the season 21-4, they face-planted in the American Conference, finishing 11-16 and failing to qualify for the conference tournament.
That led to the departure of Daniel Schlereth as pitching coach and opening the door for Eiland, who had been serving as the program's player development coordinator. He has jumped head-first into recruiting and it starts with asking a player a simple question: Do you want to be here?
"You can tell by the way they answer that question how bad they want it, if they're sincere, then you kind of go from there. 
Okay, this is what we're all about. This is what our program is, where we're headed. 
This is what our pitching plan is going to be," he said.
"We have some work to do. I believe, with all my heart, this is the pitching program here is going to compare with any program in the country. And I feel it's probably going to be better than that program. I can honestly say that."
That program is gleaned from decades of being some of the best players and managers in the history of the game.
"I've learned a lot over years. 
I had a lot of good mentors like Billy Connors, Nardi Contreras, Mel Stottemeyer, some managers I was with, like Joe Torre. I kept my mouth shut, my eyes and my ears open, and I learned a lot, asked a lot of questions," he said.
UISF pitchers will benefit from that knowledge.
"We're going to prepare guys and develop guys to be complete pitchers, be able to execute pitches, and be able to get hitters out, not to make the iPad or the computer happy, not to make the data happy," he said. "I use the analogy of a golfer can hit the ball 375 yards off the tee. Well, if he doesn't hit it in the fairway, what's it matter? 
If he's hitting it in the woods or hitting it in the water, yeah, you hit 400 yards, but what's it matter?
"If you come here, we're going to prepare you to go out and make real money at the next level. That's what we can do here for you. We can prepare you to go out and make real money. for an extended period of time, not just one grab of NIL."
Now he's ready to give back to the university that gave him so much.
"I'm still in the fight. I'm still grinding. I got a lot left and he tank's still full. 
That burning desire is still runs red hot," he said.
"I've got a couple of World Series trophies, a couple of World Series rings, and pictures, and memories, and all that sort of stuff, but I really haven't sat back and started smelling roses yet, because the final chapter hasn't been written yet."
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