Colonel baseball’s associate head coach proves to be an instrumental part of the baseball program as he enters his fourth season with the Colonels.  

Not only is Chris Prothro deemed the associate head coach, he is also the recruiting coordinator and the pitching coach for the Colonels.

Despite having multiple roles on the team, Prothro has not always worked towards becoming a baseball coach. After graduating with a degree in history from Arkansas State University, Prothro considered entering either law school or medical school to further his education. It was not until 2007 when former Colonel head coach Chip Durham called Prothro two days before classes started, asking if he wanted an assistant coaching job with the Colonels.

“He asked me if I wanted the position, and I said sure, and the next day I was here,” Prothro said. “It was about a 20 hour drive when I came down, and I’ve been here ever since.”

Prothro met Durham when he transferred to Crowder College in Missouri, a two-year junior college, from Northwestern State University after his freshman season. At Northwestern, Prothro competed for a spot in the starting line-up as a catcher, but sparingly saw playing time, as he was a freshman behind an all-conference catcher.

“I transferred out to go to junior college to play, and that’s where I played for Coach Durham,” Prothro said. “After that, I was able to continue on to play at Arkansas State University in the Sunbelt Conference for two years as a catcher.”

Prothro admits that coaching never crossed his mind until after his freshman year of college when he coached an American Legion team in his hometown of Shreveport, La.

“It was neat for me to try and help guys get better,” Protho said. “When you tell them to do something, and they try it and have some success, it’s a pretty good feeling.”

It was at this point that Prothro realized his knack for coaching.

“I thought maybe I had a skill for it,” Prothro said. “Who knows if that’s the case now, but I felt like I did, and I feel like I do, and it’s something I’m very passionate about now.”

After seven years on the coaching side of baseball, Prothro said it would be very difficult for him not to be involved in the sport.

“I don’t know how I’d get up in the morning,” Prothro said. “I’ve been doing this for seven years, and I really don’t feel like I’ve worked yet.”

Within a staff of four well-qualified members, Prothro said he adds emotion to the baseball dugout. When comparing himself to the other Colonel coaches, Prothro describes himself as “a little more firey” by showing emotion in both good and bad ways.

“I think I’m hard on the guys when I need to be, but I think when they do something good, I’m the first one to pat them on the butt too,” Prothro said.

According to Prothro, the Colonel coaching staff is successful because they operate on the same page and work towards a common goal.

“There’s no gray area from any member of our coaching staff,” Prothro said. “All we want is for our players to be as good as they can possibly be on and off the field. It’s exciting because our personalities go together well; we’re friends off the field, we spend time together, we all want to work, and it’s important that we all work hard.”

Before becoming a Colonel, Prothro was the assistant baseball coach at North Iowa Area Community College where he worked primarily with pitchers, catchers and hitters, while also assisting with recruiting. One of the biggest differences Prothro found in the transition to Division 1 baseball was the level of competition.

“I don’t think people really realize it’s a very high level of baseball being played in the Southland Conference,” Prothro said.  

According to Prothro, one of the biggest pressures of coaching at a Division 1 level is the amount of preparation that goes in to every day.

“The competition is very good, and you have to do a very good job of preparing your players or you’ll go out and get beat,” Prothro said. “That’s what we try to get our guys to do, and realize it’s an every day deal. I know our guys want to win, so we have to prepare to win.”

Since becoming a Colonel coach in 2007, Prothro has had to give up coaching summer league baseball, as the summer is one of the peak recruiting times for colleges.

“You just can’t do it as a full time coach,” Prothro said. “There’s four of us on staff, and we have to be here the whole time; June, July and August.”

For two summers, Prothro coached in the Northwoods Summer Collegiate Wood Bat League. His first season was in Brainerd, Minn. for the Blue Thunder before moving on to work in Mankato, Minn. for the Moondogs. During these two seasons, Prothro coached six post-season all-stars and 13 players that went on to be drafted or sign a professional contract.

During his four years at Nicholls, Prothro has seen great strides in the University both academically and athletically.

“University President Dr. (Stephen) Hulbert has made a commitment to making our University better through the facilities and everything that he’s in charge of, and athletic director Rob Bernardi has done the same thing in our athletic department,” Prothro said. “Despite the economic times, it’s a very exciting time to be a part of Nicholls athletics because everything’s getting better and that’s sport by sport.”