As a graduate transfer from Kentucky, Nolan McCarthy has been instrumental in the team’s impressive start. In 46 games, he has recorded a .284 batting average on 47 hits (including 7 doubles, a triple, and 8 home runs), 35 RBIs, and 47 runs scored.
The move to Georgia was fueled by McCarthy’s ambition to refine his abilities and build a stronger reputation, all with the goal extending his baseball career beyond his time in college.
This interview has been edited for concision and clarity.
Q: By making a significant move to transferring at Georgia as a highly talented grad transfer, what were the major factors that led you to make that decision to come to UGA?
A: For me, it was a lot to do with development. And after talking to my past coaches who I had at Kentucky, coach Ammo [assistant coach Nick Ammirati] and coach Coggin, who are now here, and then talking to Coach Johnson, the technology, getting players better, people come here and their draft stock rises, it doesn’t fall. So I figured it is the best choice for me to get a little bit further south, too. The weather is better, and Athens is a great town to go to college in. So great final year.
Q: Since arriving in Athens, you’ve definitely boosted the play of the outfield overall. What are some factors you think you bring to the table that have really helped the team from a defensive perspective?
A: I think focusing on the little things. At Kentucky, we’re very big on fundamentals and, you know, making the routine play, and that’ll always kind of translate into making the special play, just bringing the energy and the focus into the outfield and (Foley Field) is a very friendly ballpark, obviously, and our job is to hit as position players, but if you can’t play a good defense (then) you can’t win in this league. So just having a focus on run prevention as well as run production. So I think run prevention is almost as important as run production here (Foley Field), but playing a smaller ballpark, all the balls that are in the park you have to make the play on, and if they go over the wall. You can’t do anything about that, but hopefully we hit more than they do.
Q: Earlier this year I had the opportunity to come see you play against your old team, Kentucky. Walk me through the process of what it was like. Were there any harsh feelings toward them, or maybe you wanted to beat them because it means a little more than the other games you are going to play?
A: No harsh feelings at all. I love those guys. I still text them every day. I was keeping up with their Texas series this weekend. Yeah, I mean that program built me and who I am and Coach Menge is a great human being and great mentor. But those guys came in, and I definitely didn’t wanna lose. It just sparked something inside you playing against you know, your old team and all that. It’s no hate whatsoever, but it’s just one of those that you do want to win a little bit more just because not that you want to prove anyone wrong, but you want to prove yourself right at the same time.
Q: Beyond statistical contributions that you have made so far this year, what are some big things in the locker room that you feel like you will make to the team in 2025?
A: So coming from Kentucky, like I was talking about Coach Mange being a great mentor. He had a very good plan of making teams a family. And I think that’s something I help with here, is just bringing everyone together. Obviously, I step on some toes sometimes, but if team can’t have accountability with each other, like if I can’t get on Henry Hunter, our catcher, and he can’t get back on me and take that, and I can’t take it if gets on me. I just think the dynamic is much better if you have teammates who are willing to make adjustments and, you know, able to take the harsh truth sometimes, as well as, you know, being tight in the locker room.
Q: So with the current season underway, what are your primary focuses so far compared to the goals you set in the beginning of season, and what adjustments have you had to make in reaching those goals?
A: The goal hasn’t changed. We have the talent to win the national championship, and right now it’s a marathon, but it’s also a sprint, so you got to be sprinting every day but you also have to remember it’s a long season, so the end goal is a national championship. I went to Omaha last year, and it was the best week of my life. But we were 1-2, I can’t even imagine what it would be like, if we won it all. And this is the group of guys to do it, and the adjustments you make, like, you get down to Texas and you get swept in front of 8,000 people. We got a lot of new guys, a lot of transfers, and I’ve been through it. I’ve heard everything in here in the outfield from the fans, and I just think it’s an adjustment period, having our first real tough road game, road environment. And that’s just, that’s an adjustment everyone makes. Like my first game in the SEC was against Arkansas, and I faced Hagan Smith, went 0-3, three punch outs, didn’t make a play on left field, had the whole Hog Pen yelling at me. I mean, yeah, it’s just a learning thing, like going through those makes you better. …Coach Johnson talks a lot about, what’s the illusion of the game? And the illusion was all those fans are there to hate you and to make you play worse, yeah. But at the end of the day, if you’re in the batter’s box and you’re facing the pitcher, it’s the same thing.
Q: Can you also share more about your individual goals and how you’ve done so far. Elaborate on your mindset and individual goals?
A: So something I grappled with, definitely early in the year was, I’m a fifth-year guy. I need to really put up crazy stats, so I can keep playing this game. Because, I mean, this is my life. I love it. But I talked to some of my good friends, Ryan Nicholson, my old roommate. He was a fifth-year last year, and ended up hitting 23 or 24 bombs, and he was hitting .180 going to SEC play. So he really told me to watch an episode from Band of Brothers. And it basically said, If you accept death, then everything’s still in front of you. So if you go into each game like for me, I need to go into each game thinking, hey, this could be it. I need to put it all on the table, rather than the anxieties, whatever it might have been earlier in the year, thinking like, darn, I’m 0-2. I need to hit two home runs to make this day good. Like, no, accept it. Go out there and I mean, man, it’s a beautiful game, playing the best league, best opponents, best fans. It’s like, this is what I always dreamed of as a kid. So I can’t put pressure on myself, and the goals will fall into place. And taking every day, day by day, and just playing the game I love because when you’re not having fun, when I’m not having fun, I’m a bad player. Yeah, and when I’m having fun, I think I’m the best out there.
Q: Other college baseball players might be going through something similar to you as a grad transfer or considering that to extend their career. What are some recommendations you’d offer guys?
A: Loyalty is big for me, and it was the hardest thing I had to do leaving Kentucky, because I love that place, and it’s filled with great people, and I met some of my best friends for life there, and mentors and all that. …And I think owing it to yourself, putting in the work and going to a place that will really help you succeed with like-minded players. And I’m not saying every grad guy needs to transfer somewhere else, but at least for me, it was the best thing for me, just because I knew I would get exponentially better here. People don’t come here and get worse. On my visit here, Coach Johnson showed me the track record. He’s like, some people go to other teams in this league and they lose draft stock. They don’t do that here, and I fully see why. We have a number for everything. There’s metrics to back up everything. And if you get worse here, it’s not saying it’s your fault, but you have all the resources to get better. And for a grad guy trying to, you know, get the last bit of toothpaste out of the roll.
Q: What are your plans after college baseball? Would you or are you considering pursuing the MLB and seeing where your draft stock is at the end of the season? Do you think you’ve put enough out there to put your name in the draft, or are you gonna be like, You know what? Hang on my cleats and at the end of the day, I’m proud of my college career at Kentucky. I’m proud of my time at Georgia, and it’s time to have a career.
A: Right now, I definitely just have my blinders on, and it wouldn’t be a bad idea for me to look for, you know, an alternative other than baseball, but I really I’m gonna put all my eggs in one basket for three more months, and the cards are gonna fall, how they fall. But everywhere I’ve gone, I’ve hit and I’ve adjusted the pitching, and I’ve made some steps every year, getting better so my my goal is to be a long-time big leaguer, and put up crazy numbers. I want to win championships. I want a championship here, and I want to win a championship at every other level I play. And if that’s not what God wants me to do, and then that’s not what’s gonna happen. Yeah, I’m gonna really sell out, and I want to keep playing baseball. This is my life, and I love this sport. …So if this is the last year playing baseball, church league softball is not going to happen for a couple of years. I wanna decompress but, I mean, I know I can play in the big leagues, and I’ve hit off big leaguers. Not to, you know, pump my tires up, but I know I can hit. And no matter what the guy’s throwing, he’s still got to throw over the plate. And, you know, they’ll get me sometimes, but I’ll get them back. So whoever it is, wherever it is, I know I can make the adjustment.
Grant Turnage is a student in the undergraduate certificate program at the Carmical Sports Media Institute at the University of Georgia.
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