Coaches
The Guys that Coach You Up.
Josh Carriere
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Coach Carriere graduated from Grayson High School in 2019. While at Grayson his team had a GHSA Final Four Appearance, and he was a High School Preseason All-American. He received the Student Athlete Academic Award in high school all 4 years. He went on to play baseball at LaGrange College as an Outfielder and maintains a GPA to land him on the Deans List each semester.
Coach Josh has been playing competitive baseball for 15 years and has 5 years coaching experience. He is incredibly knowledgeable on all aspects of baseball, but is particularly zeroed in on Outfield and Corner Positions.
His philosophy of “Someone is always watching” applies to the baseball field, but also carries over into a young man’s life. Hold yourself accountable on and off the field. Conduct yourself in a manner as if someone is evaluating you every minute of every day. Coach Carriere holds himself to this standard, and pushed his players to adopt the same life philosophy, which is what makes him such an influential coach.
He has experience with all age groups, ranging from 7U-17U, but the 12-15U ages tend to be his favorite because of the learning curve from middle school to high school baseball. It’s sometimes challenging and keeps him excited to coach.
On a personal note, Coach Carriere comes from a family of college athletes. Both of his parents played sports at the college level, and his brother played college football. He’s working on his Business Management degree at Georgia Gwinnett College and is a Boston Red Sox Fan
Charlie Padilla
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Coach Padilla has been playing the game of baseball since the age of 8. He graduated from Collins High School in 2012, and went on to a stellar baseball career at USC-Aiken. He’s played at a highly competitive level of baseball in both the college and pro leagues. His most recent success was playing for the Tiajuana Toros, and being part of the 2021 Series del Rey Championship.
He has been giving private instruction for over 10 years, and coaching travel baseball for the Bandits over 5 years. He is known for his high-level catching instruction, but will tell you he also enjoys teaching hitting and the mental side of the game. His passion for the game of baseball can’t help but be passed on to the next generation of players through his instruction.
His favorite age group to coach is 10U. He will tell you it’s because they have the purest form of joy for the game. At that age they still have big dreams about their future and what they can do with their career. He lives by the motto “pain heals, chicks dig scars, and glory lasts forever”, and passionately pushes his players to live by the same.
Growing up in California, and then later Atlanta, he will tell you he never had one team he rooted for. He was just a fan of good, solid baseball, and at that time there was a lot of it being played. Editors note: He’s a actually a die-hard Padres fan.
In his free time Charlie enjoys golf, riding his Harley, talking shit, and building his empire in the golf world through his growing charity golf tournament and his own private label apparel, Tee Time Golf.
John LaMay
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Coach LaMay graduated in 2012 from Greater Atlanta Christian School, where he earned a scholarship to The University of North Georgia. He transferred and played ball at South Georgia State College, and later landed at Santa Fe Community College where he completed his Associates degree in Sports Management and a Bachelors Degree Business Management.
He has played baseball for well over 20 years and started full time instruction and training in 2017. In 2018 he coached his first team as a head coach, and is now going into his 7th year of coaching. In 2020 he opened his own coaching facility in Buford, J3 Sports Training. It’s now one of the leading sports training facilities in Gwinnett County for instruction in hitting, pitching, and catching.
Coach LaMay has built his reputation around creating an environment where players can see and feel what they are doing correctly and incorrectly. As Mike Krzyzewski says, “You hear, you forget. You see, you remember”. Coach John believes in a positive environment that builds self confidence, which enables players to get the most improvement.
He has coached all age groups over the years, but he admittedly says his favorite age to coach has slowly changed over the years. In his words, “I generally love coaching all ages because every age group brings on different challenges as a coach. I enjoy coaching on a full sized field (13+) because this is when I believe baseball is a level playing field for all players.
In his time off, he enjoys spending time with his wife Raven, and their fur baby Jax. When he’s not on the field, he spends time improving his golf game and fishing on the lake. He’s an Atlanta Braves fan and always will be.
Ryan Cosby
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Coach Cosby graduated from Mountain View High School, Buford, GA in 2020. He went on to play baseball as an outfielder for Keystone College, where his career batting average was .305.
He’s been playing baseball for over 16 years and has been a coach for the Bandits for over 3 years. He is always the kids’ favorite coach, no matter what age group. They absolutely love his enthusiasm and passion for the game. He will tell you his favorite age is 16U, but he has coached younger ages here his personality and coaching style are always well received.
He does private instruction as his schedule permits, and he’s known for his fielding and hitting knowledge. His coaching is fun and full of high intensity. His favorite quote is “90% of the game is half mental” and executes that philosophy both on and off the field.
In his free time, he likes to play baseball, football, and cornhole. He’s been known to spend some time playing video games and he’s always up to spend time with friends. Born and raised and Auburn fan, and grew into a Dodgers baseball fan.
Tyler Zak
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Coach Zak graduated from Mountain View High School in Buford, GA in 2016. He made a huge impact on his high school team, earning several awards each year, and guiding the GBSA club to win the Perfect Game Baseball Championship Series in 2015. He also played for Team Elite National, taking the club to win the Team USA National Tournament Championship in 2013.
After high school he went on to play baseball as a pitcher at Motlow State CC, then transferred to Cleveland State for his last year of JUCO. As a freshman he recorded 16 strikeouts in 16.1 innings. As a sophomore at Cleveland State he posted 15 strikeouts over 17 innings out of the bullpen and had 9 scoreless innings. He played one season at Limestone College, a D2 school and is currently completing his degree in History at Georgia Gwinnett College.
He has played baseball well over 20 years, and has been coaching for the Bandits over 5 years. He does private instruction in pitching with a focus on velocity/command. He’s known for his love of player development and preparing them for the next level.
When asked what his favorite age group to coach is, he will tell you “14U-16U because it’s a time when they really have to start preparing for their high school ball and beyond, and I love helping them navigate through that process. You can also start teaching the game within the game, and it’s rewarding to see the lightbulb go on for so many of them. It’s also a great pace of game at that age.”
In his free time, Coach Zak enjoys golf and spending time with friends and family. Being a Chicago native, he is an avid Cubs fan and roots for any Chicago sports team.
Kadrin Russ
Bio Coming Soon
Ralph Francis
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Coach Francis is an Atlanta native and grew up in Gwinnett County. He graduated from Central Gwinnett High School, where he played baseball as a pitcher and 1st baseman.
He has successfully led our younger Bandits teams to many championship games, and is known for his down to earth approach to training and developing his young players. He will tell you he enjoys watching them learn the game, see the baseball light bulb go off, and develop them through the years.
He is happily married to his baseball mom wife, Monica, for 27 years. They have been blessed with two wonderful sons. They all root for the Atlanta Braves and the New York Yankees.
Jeff Brothers
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Coach Brothers played baseball in Magnolia, Ohio as a teenager. After high school, he went on to play for St. Andrews College as a catcher/pitcher/DH, earning his BA in 2013. He helped his team go 3rd team region NCAA (d3) and 2nd team conference in 2013. He went on to land in Atlanta at Oglethorpe University, where he completed his Masters degree in 2017.
He instructs in all areas of baseball and enjoys coaching the 12U age group. His favorite quote in baseball is “…just one more dying quail a week and you’re in Yankee Stadium”.
Coach Brothers has made his home in Atlanta with his wife and new baby boy. He teaches and coaches at a Hall County school and roots for the Atlanta Braves.
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