but the program has gone down each year since...this is NOT Carolina baseball...a change is needed...
When Holbrook was given the job, I thought it was a good thing
- Thread starter GulfCoastCock
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I agree. Holbrook has never come across as having a strong
personality and I feel that is what a successful leader must have.
personality and I feel that is what a successful leader must have.
I was opposed to Tanner becoming AD for the simple fact that I didn't feel we could afford losing him as the head man of the baseball program. I think that fear is being fully realized. (Now, GRANTED, had he not become AD here, he may very well have bolted USC completely in the near future to pursue an AD position. So, in that regard, I guess I'm glad he's still associated with USC, because the man is pure class.)
At the time, Holbrook seemed likea good fit to take over the baseball team. Maybe he still is - I don't know. I feel badly for him and the players right now. You know they're all trying, but things just ain't working. What's the answer? I don't know. I wonder how Tanner is liking the stress of that AD position right now because I know I wouldn't want to be in his shoes.
This post was edited on 4/17 12:40 PM by 92Pony
At the time, Holbrook seemed likea good fit to take over the baseball team. Maybe he still is - I don't know. I feel badly for him and the players right now. You know they're all trying, but things just ain't working. What's the answer? I don't know. I wonder how Tanner is liking the stress of that AD position right now because I know I wouldn't want to be in his shoes.
This post was edited on 4/17 12:40 PM by 92Pony
Yeah, I think I, like most felt uneasy about Ray not coaching the team but felt that Holbrook could keep the ship afloat and it would be okay. I never thought it would get this bad this fast. Until the last couple of weeks I thought we still had some hope to turn this around.
At that time, everyone was riding a high.. Back to back National Championships and finishing 2nd in the CWS... It was a natural to hire within, thinking that fun and good baseball will continue...
Tanner and Chad worked well together, Tanner a hard ass coach and Chad come in behind being the nice cop to be a friend to the players... I don't think Chad was able to change his relationship of being the nice coach when things are bad...
Ray can't be happy with the team right now...he may be the AD but he's still a coach at heart...and because of that I think he will make changes quicker than most of you seem to think...Ray likes to win...not be totally embarrassed on national tv...
I think many of us (more than will admit) felt comfortable that Ray knew who was best to succeed him. At the time, even the most hardened of the doom and gloom crowd couldn't find any reason to think a baseball guru like RT was making an ill-advised choice relating to, of all things, baseball...but it has happened. The fact that Ray chose him may end up giving Holbroke more rope than he deserves. No one likes to admit they were so wrong about something they are so familiar with.
Re: Hope for the best but having studied baseball for nearly
a long time, noticed early on that the new staff had a real problem identifying quality SEC-level hitting talent and ability.
The first indication that things were not going in the right direction was when SC signed a certain player from an upstate town whom I will not name.....do not get me wrong, he was a very good player and actually had a pretty decent career for us but because of the failure of this staff in signing quality players....he was asked to carry the team and actually was forced to be the cleanup hitter on the team when that was not what his talent and abilities best suited....he wasn't even the big hitting power and RBI producer on this high school\travel ball teams...but like Martin this year, he was put in the number 4 slot and asked to be the RBI\power guy on the team.....
The sad reality is that this player, if he was surrounded by a solid team of players and allowed to play in his best role as a solid lead off or #2, would have gone down as one of the very best players at SC, but forced to try to cover for bad decisions by the staff hurt his reputation by having to do things for which he wasn't best suited.
a long time, noticed early on that the new staff had a real problem identifying quality SEC-level hitting talent and ability.
The first indication that things were not going in the right direction was when SC signed a certain player from an upstate town whom I will not name.....do not get me wrong, he was a very good player and actually had a pretty decent career for us but because of the failure of this staff in signing quality players....he was asked to carry the team and actually was forced to be the cleanup hitter on the team when that was not what his talent and abilities best suited....he wasn't even the big hitting power and RBI producer on this high school\travel ball teams...but like Martin this year, he was put in the number 4 slot and asked to be the RBI\power guy on the team.....
The sad reality is that this player, if he was surrounded by a solid team of players and allowed to play in his best role as a solid lead off or #2, would have gone down as one of the very best players at SC, but forced to try to cover for bad decisions by the staff hurt his reputation by having to do things for which he wasn't best suited.
Oh BS.
I call BS on anybody claiming they saw this season's collapse coming or that they felt this was a bad hire! Programs all over the nation were drooling over Holbrook and trying to hire him away. He was continuity for our program, he had coached in 5 out of the previous 7 NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES I believe prior to taking the job and been to Omaha 6 out of the previous 7 years as an assistant. He was rated as one of the best recruiters and best assistants in ALL OF COLLEGE SPORTS coming into this HC position. Who else should we have hired? NOBODY. This was the best hire we could have made at the time we made and after ONE BAD SEASON, people want to fire him? I am frustrated too, but that is idiotic! Last year and the year before were a little off too, but we were hosting playoff games, and in the running for SEC East crowns late into the season, averaged over 40 wins... You don't get down on a new HC for winning at that level no matter what kind of program he inherited... Especially considering all the guys who fueled those runs to NCs were GONE and he did have to re- build a new team. Now, here we are hitting a rough patch in year tree and people want him gone? All of a sudden "I didn't like this hire from day one" is coming out? BS, if you didn't like this hire you were a feaking IDIOT! Guess who else had a down year in his third year- RAY TANNER. HE inherited a pretty good ball club and DID NOT MAKE THE PLAYOFFS AT ALL HIS THIRD SEASON. Were you morons around in 1999 saying the same thing about him? I bet you probably were... But once he won his second consecutive NC.. What did you say then? "I knew he was a great hire from day 1"- right? It is easy to try to sound smart when talking about the PAST and what you "knew back then". I am quite sure neither of you are capable of an original thought or rational comment about something that isn't spoon fed to you, so just shut the Hell up about what you KNEW, OK. Nobody is buying it.
