Coaching Search

[Demedicis1]

As I ponder this more and more, and read more and more articles about it, here is my thought.

I am thinking give Monte the HC position on a 3–4-year contract. His first 4 years at Clemson he got them to the NCAA Regionals. When he was an asst. here, 2003-2008, we made the NCAA all 5 years and made the CWS 2 of those years. Given, Tanner was the HC, but he knows what it takes to get there, and he was a big part of the recruiting back then.

But I also feel Tanner should encourage him to hire Landon as his Hitting Coach. Powell was a leading offensive threat. He finished with a career batting average of .306 as a switch-hitting catcher, with 44 home runs, 61 doubles, and 193 RBI. He is also a good recruiter. He has gotten some good players to play at a D-2 school.
He was drafted in the 1st round of the MLB.

 

[sclawman77]

As I ponder this more and more, and read more and more articles about it, here is my thought.

I am thinking give Monte the HC position on a 3–4-year contract. His first 4 years at Clemson he got them to the NCAA Regionals. When he was an asst. here, 2003-2008, we made the NCAA all 5 years and made the CWS 2 of those years. Given, Tanner was the HC, but he knows what it takes to get there, and he was a big part of the recruiting back then.

But I also feel Tanner should encourage him to hire Landon as his Hitting Coach. Powell was a leading offensive threat. He finished with a career batting average of .306 as a switch-hitting catcher, with 44 home runs, 61 doubles, and 193 RBI. He is also a good recruiter. He has gotten some good players to play at a D-2 school.
He was drafted in the 1st round of the MLB.

I'm still not sold on Lee as a head coach. So players and recruits want him. Keep him on staff. He had some solid teams at Clemson and couldn't get them to Omaha. I remember them losing regionals at home too. Hiring him as head coach is a lazy hire. If he was such a great head coach he wouldn't have gotten fired from Clemson. Also I won't be surprised to hear that Tanner gets turned down by the big names or guys he wants because that happens to him regularly it seems. Can't close the deal-another reason why he's a subpar AD.

 

[sclawman77]

Apparently the recruits want Lee retained, maybe keep him as an assistant until new coach gets his footing. I like the ECU guy, but I am not making that decision. My guess is whatever it is, Ray will screw it up!!

Expect to hear how Ray got turned down repeatedly by first and second choices only to settle for who was left on the list. He can't close the deal time after time. Lackluster AD. He's botched enough hires that he shouldn't even be making the decision anymore.

 

[FORKCOCK]

Expect to hear how Ray got turned down repeatedly by first and second choices only to settle for who was left on the list. He can't close the deal time after time. Lackluster AD. He's botched enough hires that he shouldn't even be making the decision anymore.

I’ve had a thought that Tanner is delaying naming Lee as head coach in order to make it looking like he has been approaching other coaches.

 

[cockn'fyr]

I am not sure. ECU's baseball stadium is only a bit older than ours and it's very nice.

It's nice and it's new, but it's not Founder's Park! Nice park for mid-major though!

 

[DeeDave]

I’ve had a thought that Tanner is delaying naming Lee as head coach in order to make it looking like he has been approaching other coaches.

He's talked to several candidates.

Posters are posting crazy stuff trying to propose various theories and they have no idea what they are talking about other than slinging stuff at the barn door.

 

[DeeDave]

Expect to hear how Ray got turned down repeatedly by first and second choices only to settle for who was left on the list. He can't close the deal time after time. Lackluster AD. He's botched enough hires that he shouldn't even be making the decision anymore.

Ray went after O'Sullivan hard before he hired Kingston. You can't force someone to accept a job.

 

[DeeDave]

I'm still not sold on Lee as a head coach.

I don't see how anyone could be sold on anyone. It's a gamble no matter who you hire.

Someone who has won somewhere else might not win here.

Some would like the Louisville coach. But some of their fans have whined for years now that he can't win enough in Omaha and have grown tired of him.

Every coach has issues and detractors.

 

[DeeDave]

It's nice and it's new, but it's not Founder's Park! Nice park for mid-major though!

I don't think it is either but it's a nice facility. It's not like Founders Park is so far above and beyond what he works with there that coming here for facilities is a factor. I don't think that's a factor at all.

If he was at a dump and didn't have nice player areas and the stadium seated 800 people, it would be a factor.

He's got really nice facilities at ECU.

 

[sclawman77]

Ray went after O'Sullivan hard before he hired Kingston. You can't force someone to accept a job.

McGee got Lou Holtz and Steve Spurrier to come here. Some AD'S have connections, know how to sell the university and get who they want. The common theme with Ray is he consistently gets turned down by the coaches he wants the most.

 

[sclawman77]

I don't see how anyone could be sold on anyone. It's a gamble no matter who you hire.

Someone who has won somewhere else might not win here.

Some would like the Louisville coach. But some of their fans have whined for years now that he can't win enough in Omaha and have grown tired of him.

Every coach has issues and detractors.

O'Sullivan probably isn't coming here but I'm very sold on him as a head coach for obvious reasons-his teams compete for national titles in Omaha. Lee has never led a team to Omaha and he was fired from Clemson for that very reason. That's why I'm not sold on him.

 

[DeeDave]

McGee got Lou Holtz and Steve Spurrier to come here. Some AD'S have connections, know how to sell the university and get who they want. The common theme with Ray is he consistently gets turned down by the coaches he wants the most.

Maybe it's South Carolina who gets turned down, not an AD going after coaches that have much better offers or situations. It's as if some of you never consider that possibility.

Sorry, but Holtz and Spurrier are not comparable situations. A timeline of events is most helpful and provides badly needed context that is almost always absent on message boards.

1) Lou Holtz wasn't in coaching when he was approached.
2) Steve Spurrier wasn't in coaching at the time he was approached.

3) Kevin O'Sullivan had been to the CWS semi-finals in June 2015. The CWS in June 2016.

4) In early September 2016, Jeremy Foley announces a new baseball stadium is in the works for Florida's program.

5) September 29, 2016, O'Sullivan signs a 10 year, $12.5 million dollar contract making him the highest paid college baseball coach in the country.

6) Holbrook resigns on June 6, 2017. Ray Tanner started his search that reportedly focused on Kevin O'Sullivan.

7) On June 4, 2017, 2 days before Holbrook resigned, O'Sullivan's squad was announced as an NCAA regional host and #3 national seed.

8) Florida won the NCAA Regional (June 9-11)

9) The next weekend, Florida won the Super Regional

10) On June 18th, Florida won their first game in the College World Series.

11) On June 27th, Florida won the national championship in Omaha.

12) On June 30th, 3 days after Florida won and 3+ weeks after Chad Holbrook resigned, South Carolina named Mark Kingston as head coach.

As I stated, you can't force someone to take a job, especially someone that just won a national championship, and was thought to be returning a loaded team for the next year (Would go to the CWS Semi-finals again in June 2018)

As a local radio host said when talking about this very issue, the timing just wasn't there. No school in the country could have got Kevin O'Sullivan away from Florida 2-3-4 days after he won a national title at Florida.

and -and (a big big BIG hypothetical) - say O'Sullivan did tell his boss that Ray Tanner wanted to talk to him and his boss said "Kevin, do what you want to do but we will match and beat any offer South Carolina throws at you without any questions asked be it salary, be it facilities, be it anything you want. You name it. If they offer you a bank vault with $3.5 mil a year, we will beat it. That's a promise. Then what? What does Ray do? Go down and force him at gunpoint? Kidnap his children? What then?

We don't know that he ever had to tell his boss anything, but it very easily could have happened because Florida was not going to lose a national title winning coach 3-4 days after he won it to go to an SEC rival in South Carolina. It's ludicrous to even think about. It's just silly.

I wish it wasn't silly. I wish Kevin had lost in the regional or Super-or came up short again in the CWS and we might have had him- -maybe he decides he just can't win it all at Florida and looks to South Carolina- maybe- and that's still a HUGE- HUGE- HUGE MAYBE. But he won the title. If there was any doubt- even 1% doubt, that erased all doubt 1000%

and comparing that to landing two coaches that were not in coaching at all is as unfair as anything could be in this entire discussion.

 

[BattleshipTexas]

Why is no one throwing Eric Bakish name around? Stealing the Clemson coach would be fun, right?

The Tennessee coach, Maserati Tony, is getting a big raise and extension. They worried Texas would come after him, but evidently our AD and him clashed when at TCU.

So back to Bakish? Any good?

 

[sclawman77]

Maybe it's South Carolina who gets turned down, not an AD going after coaches that have much better offers or situations. It's as if some of you never consider that possibility.

Sorry, but Holtz and Spurrier are not comparable situations. A timeline of events is most helpful and provides badly needed context that is almost always absent on message boards.

1) Lou Holtz wasn't in coaching when he was approached.
2) Steve Spurrier wasn't in coaching at the time he was approached.

3) Kevin O'Sullivan had been to the CWS semi-finals in June 2015. The CWS in June 2016.

4) In early September 2016, Jeremy Foley announces a new baseball stadium is in the works for Florida's program.

5) September 29, 2016, O'Sullivan signs a 10 year, $12.5 million dollar contract making him the highest paid college baseball coach in the country.

6) Holbrook resigns on June 6, 2017. Ray Tanner started his search that reportedly focused on Kevin O'Sullivan.

7) On June 4, 2017, 2 days before Holbrook resigned, O'Sullivan's squad was announced as an NCAA regional host and #3 national seed.

8) Florida won the NCAA Regional (June 9-11)

9) The next weekend, Florida won the Super Regional

10) On June 18th, Florida won their first game in the College World Series.

11) On June 27th, Florida won the national championship in Omaha.

12) On June 30th, 3 days after Florida won and 3+ weeks after Chad Holbrook resigned, South Carolina named Mark Kingston as head coach.

As I stated, you can't force someone to take a job, especially someone that just won a national championship, and was thought to be returning a loaded team for the next year (Would go to the CWS Semi-finals again in June 2018)

As a local radio host said when talking about this very issue, the timing just wasn't there. No school in the country could have got Kevin O'Sullivan away from Florida 2-3-4 days after he won a national title at Florida.

and -and (a big big BIG hypothetical) - say O'Sullivan did tell his boss that Ray Tanner wanted to talk to him and his boss said "Kevin, do what you want to do but we will match and beat any offer South Carolina throws at you without any questions asked be it salary, be it facilities, be it anything you want. You name it. If they offer you a bank vault with $3.5 mil a year, we will beat it. That's a promise. Then what? What does Ray do? Go down and force him at gunpoint? Kidnap his children? What then?

We don't know that he ever had to tell his boss anything, but it very easily could have happened because Florida was not going to lose a national title winning coach 3-4 days after he won it to go to an SEC rival in South Carolina. It's ludicrous to even think about. It's just silly.

I wish it wasn't silly. I wish Kevin had lost in the regional or Super-or came up short again in the CWS and we might have had him- -maybe he decides he just can't win it all at Florida and looks to South Carolina- maybe- and that's still a HUGE- HUGE- HUGE MAYBE. But he won the title. If there was any doubt- even 1% doubt, that erased all doubt 1000%

and comparing that to landing two coaches that were not in coaching at all is as unfair as anything could be in this entire discussion.

Being out of coaching is irrelevant. McGee talked two HOF college coaches into coming to Carolina, a school with no football tradition. Neither, especially Spurrier, were washed up names in coaching. They could have easily turned us down as well for a better program but didn't.

Regarding O'Sullivan, I never said I expected Tanner to sign O'Sullivan-after Holbrook or after Kingston. You made a comment questioning how fans could be sold on any coach and I used him as a clear example of a successful, proven coach that I am sold on. I could list others too. Lee is not one of them.

Tanner's hires have been unimpressive so far. The fans have every right to question his decision making ability. We're on our third coach since he retired.

 

[DeeDave]

Being out of coaching is irrelevant.

The difference in hiring two coaches that aren't in coaching at all (Holtz, Spurrier) and trying to hire someone just as they win a national championship is not irrelevant.

Spurrier would have went to Florida, Georgia, Miami, Alabama, Auburn, Texas and a host of schools had they come calling, given he wasn't coaching. But they didn't ask.

Lou Holtz would have went to a handful of teams had they come calling and begging him- given he wanted one more coaching job and didn't have one. But they didn't.

Kevin O'Sullivan wasn't going anywhere- no school could hire him. But Ray Tanner tried hard anyway - even though everything was against him. He was making more money than any coach in the country and getting a new baseball stadium which he had huge input in.

To suggest it's irrelevant is absolutely ridiculous, unreasonable, and something a fan that can't think straight because of his own bias would say.

 

[DeeDave]

Tanner's hires have been unimpressive so far. The fans have every right to question his decision making ability. We're on our third coach since he retired.

You can question anyone all you like. No one cares. I certainly don't.

But blaming someone for not hiring someone that no one could hire is unreasonable.

Some coaches don't want to come to your school, no matter what you say or do- just like some employees don't want to work for some companies.

 

[sclawman77]

The difference in hiring two coaches that aren't in coaching at all (Holtz, Spurrier) and trying to hire someone just as they win a national championship is not irrelevant.

Spurrier would have went to Florida, Georgia, Miami, Alabama, Auburn, Texas and a host of schools had they come calling, given he wasn't coaching. But they didn't ask.

Lou Holtz would have went to a handful of teams had they come calling and begging him- given he wanted one more coaching job and didn't have one. But they didn't.

Kevin O'Sullivan wasn't going anywhere- no school could hire him. But Ray Tanner tried hard anyway - even though everything was against him. He was making more money than any coach in the country and getting a new baseball stadium which he had huge input in.

To suggest it's irrelevant is absolutely ridiculous, unreasonable, and something a fan that can't think straight because of his own bias would say.

You aren't understanding my point. You keep harping about O'Sullivan. I'm not talking about Ray trying to hire him at all or comparing that to hiring Lou and Spurrier. You keep making a big deal about Lou and Spurrier being out of coaching when we hired them and my point about it being irrelevant is that they were HOF names and Spurrier was a big get being only a year out of the pros. That's all. What's ridiculous is how defensive you are about a subpar AD like Tanner.

 

[sclawman77]

You can question anyone all you like. No one cares. I certainly don't.

But blaming someone for not hiring someone that no one could hire is unreasonable.

Some coaches don't want to come to your school, no matter what you say or do- just like some employees don't want to work for some companies.

I'm not blaming him for not hiring O'Sullivan. I'm blaming him for the lackluster coaches he ends up hiring.

 

[cockymark]

I simply do not understand people who say this coach or that coach would not come or no way we can get them....I do not post anything like that unless I have facts! no one knows what is in someones head there are a lot of variables involved such as are you happy in the town you live in?

 

[PaleoCock]

You aren't understanding my point. You keep harping about O'Sullivan. I'm not talking about Ray trying to hire him at all or comparing that to hiring Lou and Spurrier. You keep making a big deal about Lou and Spurrier being out of coaching when we hired them and my point about it being irrelevant is that they were HOF names and Spurrier was a big get being only a year out of the pros. That's all. What's ridiculous is how defensive you are about a subpar AD like Tanner.

Spurrier came to us on a whim. He was a wealthy, retired coach who wanted to see if he could make a winner out of a school with a long history of mediocrity and stated so publically. It was a folly.

The connection with McGee did help. However, obtaining him wasn't because of a traditional coaching search. It was a highly irregular move that garnered a lot of media attention. That publicity, in turn, pulled in bigger recruits.

 

[Lurker123]

I simply do not understand people who say this coach or that coach would not come or no way we can get them....I do not post anything like that unless I have facts! no one knows what is in someones head there are a lot of variables involved such as are you happy in the town you live in?

I think those posts would go over better with a few more "I think" or "imo" added.

 

[jonesz21]

LANDON HAS A GREAT PERSONALITY. IS A HELL OF A RECRUITER AND WOULD BE HUNGRY FOR SUCCESS (LIKE TANNER WAS ONCE UPON A TIME.) HE WON THE CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP IN HIS SECOND YEAR AS HEAD COACH. HOW MANY YEARS AGO DID U.S.C. WIN A CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP? 14???

We always hear they are a great recruiter until they get here.

 

[jonesz21]

I WILL TAKE LANDON POWELL OVER ANY OF THEM!!! 75.1% WINNING PERCENT, 2022 NCAA DIV.2 NAT. CHAMPS, 5 OUT OF 10 YRS. AS CONFERENCE CHAMPS, 6 POST SEASON APPEARANCES. COMMON GUYS THE SEARCH IS OVER. THE COACHES AT LOUISVILLE, FLORIDA AND E.C.U. ARE AT RISK OF COACHING BURNOUT.

Wow how far we have fallen. North gvl coach is the best we can do??

 

[sclawman77]

Wow how far we have fallen. North gvl coach is the best we can do??

"He really wants to be here". That seems to be the gold standard that gives a lot of our fans a vote of confidence in our coaches these days.

 

[Ward Jr]

I simply do not understand people who say this coach or that coach would not come or no way we can get them....I do not post anything like that unless I have facts! no one knows what is in someones head there are a lot of variables involved such as are you happy in the town you live in?

If higher-profile coaches are interested during a coaching search, their agent can quietly throw their name in the hat to see if we can meet their requirements.

When have we landed a big name coach in a coaching search on the men's side? We all know the story of Holtz and Spurrier which were both highly irregular circumstances. Ray Tanner was a nice pickup from NC State but wasn't a big name coach at the time. Eddie Fogler maybe?

This is one of the many reasons spinning the coaching wheel on any regular basis at USC is not a great idea. Build a quality staff around a good CEO unless you can find another high-profile coach in the twilight of his career who has grown tired of the golf course.

 

[PaleoCock]

"He really wants to be here". That seems to be the gold standard that gives a lot of our fans a vote of confidence in our coaches these days.

That's really easy to say. What bothers you about this coaching search right now? What should they be doing differently? The position is in the national headlines and we're willing to pay an SEC caliber contract. What else is there? I get why some were frustrated when Ray hired Beamer over Chadwell but this isn't that at least so far.

 

[Gamecock Jacque]

at least so far.

😎

 

[Patriot321]

I don't see how anyone could be sold on anyone. It's a gamble no matter who you hire.

Someone who has won somewhere else might not win here.

Some would like the Louisville coach. But some of their fans have whined for years now that he can't win enough in Omaha and have grown tired of him.

Every coach has issues and detractors.

Well of course it's a gamble, but Clemson not long ago gambled on Monte Lee, and it failed. Why would we make him the new head coach, just not a good look in my opinion. And it's not like the batting has been exceptional or anything. I just don't get all the love? The players know him, of course many will say to name him, but Ray has to look at a lot of other factors.

 

[sclawman77]

That's really easy to say. What bothers you about this coaching search right now? What should they be doing differently? The position is in the national headlines and we're willing to pay an SEC caliber contract. What else is there? I get why some were frustrated when Ray hired Beamer over Chadwell but this isn't that at least so far.

We're on our third baseball coach in 12 years. Am I glad we're making a change? Yes. Am I confident in our AD hiring the right guy? Well he hasn't figured it out in baseball or football after 12 years. Hoping for the best at least.

 

[Ward Jr]

We're on our third baseball coach in 12 years. Am I glad we're making a change? Yes. Am I confident in our AD hiring the right guy? Well he hasn't figured it out in baseball or football after 12 years. Hoping for the best at least.

The typical D1 baseball coach averages 6-7 years at a school.

Blaming Ray for all of the world's problems has become very fashionable on this site.

Let's put the hindsight analysis to the side for a moment.

Did you think the Holbrook hire was poor at the time he hired him? That was Ray's right-hand man throughout his run. He was the logical candidate. Holbrook wasn't able to replicate Ray's success but moved on to COC and continues to do well. They finished 41-14 this season.

Did you think the Kingston hire was poor at the time he was hired? The coaching search at the time looked alot like it does right now. Based on the candidates available, he seemed to be as good an option as anyone.

The Muschamp hire was super lame. We had better options and Muschamp failed at UF. A complete bust here.

The Beamer hire still remains to be seen. He overachieved his first two seasons and underachieved his third. He is two wins short of the most winning coach in USC history and he's got maybe 15-20% of the NIL budget of most of the other teams in the SEC. Many of our best players have left at the end of the season as a result which has had a major impact on the offensive side.

The Paris hire looks brilliant so far. Almost no one liked the hired and he ends up SEC coach of the year in his 2nd season with a team which was projected to finish last.

 

[cockn'fyr]

The typical D1 baseball coach averages 6-7 years at a school.

Blaming Ray for all of the world's problems has become very fashionable on this site.

Let's put the hindsight analysis to the side for a moment.

Did you think the Holbrook hire was poor at the time he hired him? That was Ray's right-hand man throughout his run. He was the logical candidate. Holbrook wasn't able to replicate Ray's success but moved on to COC and continues to do well. They finished 41-14 this season.

Did you think the Kingston hire was poor at the time he was hired? The coaching search at the time looked alot like it does right now. Based on the candidates available, he seemed to be as good an option as anyone.

The Muschamp hire was super lame. We had better options and Muschamp failed at UF. A complete bust here.

The Beamer hire still remains to be seen. He overachieved his first two seasons and underachieved his third. He is two wins short of the most winning coach in USC history and he's got maybe 15-20% of the NIL budget of most of the other teams in the SEC. Many of our best players have left at the end of the season as a result.

The Paris hire looks brilliant so far. Almost no one liked the hired and he ends up SEC coach of the year in his 2nd season with a team which was projected to finish last.

Rational? We don’t need no stinking rational! And may I add Holbrook had three 40 win seasons and a couple of supers in five seasons for us, but it just wasn’t good enough for this fanbase!

 

[bucketdad]

The typical D1 baseball coach averages 6-7 years at a school.

Blaming Ray for all of the world's problems has become very fashionable on this site.

Let's put the hindsight analysis to the side for a moment.

Did you think the Holbrook hire was poor at the time he hired him? That was Ray's right-hand man throughout his run. He was the logical candidate. Holbrook wasn't able to replicate Ray's success but moved on to COC and continues to do well. They finished 41-14 this season.

Did you think the Kingston hire was poor at the time he was hired? The coaching search at the time looked alot like it does right now. Based on the candidates available, he seemed to be as good an option as anyone.

The Muschamp hire was super lame. We had better options and Muschamp failed at UF. A complete bust here.

The Beamer hire still remains to be seen. He overachieved his first two seasons and underachieved his third. He is two wins short of the most winning coach in USC history and he's got maybe 15-20% of the NIL budget of most of the other teams in the SEC. Many of our best players have left at the end of the season as a result.

The Paris hire looks brilliant so far. Almost no one liked the hired and he ends up SEC coach of the year in his 2nd season with a team which was projected to finish last.

Since you asked, yes, I did think the Kingston hire was a bad one out the gate. I listened to Kingston's first press conference. Left unimpressed. In fact I was disappointed. Disappointed Ray decided this guy's vision was the direction we should go. But I kept telling myself if Kingston was good enough to make his version of baseball work, then my opinion on how the gamecocks should play the game doesn't matter. Just win. So you can imagine how pissed I was getting after an absolutely horrible second year. I wanted him gone then. That said, he did change my mind by doing the unheard of... a promise of change and seemingly philosophy. Then covid hit. Then we came back to some kind of baseball I'm not sure anyone could describe. No direction at all. No identity for what seems like forever. The Kingston experiment was totally on Ray. Not buying he couldn't have found a more traditional type baseball coach with a proven system he believed in. I can only hope he gets it right this time. This hire will be on him as well.

 

[Ward Jr]

Since you asked, yes, I did think the Kingston hire was a bad one out the gate. I listened to Kingston's first press conference. Left unimpressed. In fact I was disappointed. Disappointed Ray decided this guy's vision was the direction we should go. But I kept telling myself if Kingston was good enough to make his version of baseball work, then my opinion on how the gamecocks should play the game doesn't matter. Just win. So you can imagine how pissed I was getting after an absolutely horrible second year. I wanted him gone then. That said, he did change my mind by doing the unheard of... a promise of change and seemingly philosophy. Then covid hit. Then we came back to some kind of baseball I'm not sure anyone could describe. No direction at all. No identity for what seems like forever. The Kingston experiment was totally on Ray. Not buying he couldn't have found a more traditional type baseball coach with a proven system he believed in. I can only hope he gets it right this time. This hire will be on him as well.

Fair enough. I personally thought Kingston sounded rock solid at the beginning. And given that Ray has forgotten more about college baseball than any of us combined know about it, it seemed like a good direction to me at the time.

Of the candidates available, who were you favoring instead of Kingston? Another in-house guy?

 

[bucketdad]

Fair enough. I personally thought Kingston sounded rock solid at the beginning. And given that Ray has forgotten more about college baseball than any of us combined know about it, it seemed like a good direction to me at the time.

Of the candidates available, who were you favoring instead of Kingston? Another in-house guy?

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I dont recall having a favorite pick. Probably wont hear me pick one this time around either. In house guy or not. All I wanted was a guy wanting his team to be ready to play the game however it needed to be played at any given time and not reluctant to play the game one way or another. That was desperately needed imo after Holbrook's teams had been really bad at certain aspects of the game when he too would reluctantly go to them. And I certainly didn't want anyone coming in believing he was saying what he thought fans wanted to hear as gamecock fans. This is all I want this time around too. Not too much to ask. I will say this, pedigree matters. What brand of baseball did the next guy learn and by whom. History matters. I look forward to hearing what the next guy stands for and getting a sense of how much confidence he has in what he does. I can only hope he intends to cover all bases.

 

[Ward Jr]

I dont recall having a favorite pick. Probably wont hear me pick one this time around either. In house guy or not. All I wanted was a guy wanting his team to be ready to play the game however it needed to be played at any given time and not reluctant to play the game one way or another. That was desperately needed imo after Holbrook's teams had been really bad at certain aspects of the game when he too would reluctantly go to them. And I certainly didn't want anyone coming in believing he was saying what he thought fans wanted to hear as gamecock fans. This is all I want this time around too. Not too much to ask. I will say this, pedigree matters. What brand of baseball did the next guy learn and by whom. History matters. I look forward to hearing what the next guy stands for and getting a sense of how much confidence he has in what he does. I can only hope he intends to cover all bases.

Thanks. I guess I'm still in the camp that believes Tanner can choose the best candidate available on the baseball front and it's the potential candidate pool which is the snafu.

Take Godwin for instance, I think he checks all of the boxes would be a good pickup but I'm not sure why would he come to USC unless we push our baseball coach salary up another 50% or so from what Kingston was making? Why complicate your situation with tougher league competition unless there's a large payday attached?

Also, I'm sure Tanner probably has multiple candidates he would be interested in that don't qualify because of their experience. USC is different than other big schools because we can't really afford to turn over coaches at the pace of other schools and/or pay buyouts (to rid or obtain). Hence, you can't roll the dice on a relative unknown with a high baseball IQ in case it doesn't work out.

Whether it's coaching searches or the NIL, we're really caught in the middle because we enjoy playing in the big leagues, but really don't possess the resources of our brethren and many fans just don't seem to get that.

 

[PaleoCock]

Thanks. I guess I'm still in the camp that believes Tanner can choose the best candidate available on the baseball front and it's the potential candidate pool which is the snafu.

Take Godwin for instance, I think he checks all of the boxes would be a good pickup but I'm not sure why would he come to USC unless we push our baseball coach salary up another 50% or so from what Kingston was making? Why complicate your situation with tougher league competition unless there's a large payday attached?

Also, I'm sure Tanner probably has multiple candidates he would be interested in that don't qualify because of their experience. USC is different than other big schools because we can't really afford to turn over coaches at the pace of other schools and/or pay buyouts (to rid or obtain). Hence, you can't roll the dice on a relative unknown with a high baseball IQ in case it doesn't work out.

Whether it's coaching searches or the NIL, we're really caught in the middle because we enjoy playing in the big leagues, but really don't possess the resources of our brethren and many fans just don't seem to get that.

100%. Also, when you hear big-name coaches like O'Sullivan being potentially interested, that's often their agent trying to leverage their current position for a bigger contact at their current gig. However, to many of our fans, it looks like we couldn't get it done in the hiring process.

 

[bucketdad]

Thanks. I guess I'm still in the camp that believes Tanner can choose the best candidate available on the baseball front and it's the potential candidate pool which is the snafu.

Take Godwin for instance, I think he checks all of the boxes would be a good pickup but I'm not sure why would he come to USC unless we push our baseball coach salary up another 50% or so from what Kingston was making? Why complicate your situation with tougher league competition unless there's a large payday attached?

Also, I'm sure Tanner probably has multiple candidates he would be interested in that don't qualify because of their experience. USC is different than other big schools because we can't really afford to turn over coaches at the pace of other schools and/or pay buyouts (to rid or obtain). Hence, you can't roll the dice on a relative unknown with a high baseball IQ in case it doesn't work out.

Whether it's coaching searches or the NIL, we're really caught in the middle because we enjoy playing in the big leagues, but really don't possess the resources of our brethren and many fans just don't seem to get that.

I'm not even sure why anyone wanting to be a MLB player would want to come here.. at least not the last few years. We are not good at producing hitters the major league wants. We have to change that. No doubt we aren't going to do that on the cheap.

 

[sclawman77]

100%. Also, when you hear big-name coaches like O'Sullivan being potentially interested, that's often their agent trying to leverage their current position for a bigger contact at their current gig. However, to many of our fans, it looks like we couldn't get it done in the hiring process.

No doubt as I've stated the same thing about O'Sullivan earlier in this thread. Ray still has an unproven track record hiring coaches. And if he hires Lee it comes across as a lazy convenient hire.

 

[sclawman77]

That's really easy to say. What bothers you about this coaching search right now? What should they be doing differently? The position is in the national headlines and we're willing to pay an SEC caliber contract. What else is there? I get why some were frustrated when Ray hired Beamer over Chadwell but this isn't that at least so far.

Multiple fans on this board have used those exact words when describing Beamer-"He really wants to here". Just saying.

 

[sclawman77]

Why don't we go after up and coming assistants at other big SEC schools? I realize Dave Van Horn isn't coming here or Kevin O'Sullivan but there have to be some top assistants at other big programs available. It worked out for UT and UGA.

I personally don't see the ECU coach leaving so I'm assuming we'll promote Lee. I just don't understand if you fired Kingston for lackluster results, isn't his staff to blame as well, who contributed to those results? So why would you consider promoting him along with the fact he was already fired from Clemson?