After sleeping on it a few days, I actually think the coaches did a pretty good job this year.....

[OG Goat Holder]

While I think we had a very old team that could have done more, we didn't particularly have a ton of talent. Good talent, not great talent. However, this is also on Lemonis and Geautrau, so take from that what you will. All you had to do was look at us against the best teams (even Virginia), and it was apparent. But the fact that we hung with them is also a testament to the coaches.

He better go out and find some men for next season. We always knew Lemonis could mix and match the pieces if he had them, but he was hailed as a good recruiter, and that's the part that's been missing.

We also need to tighten up on the soft culture. All those baserunning blunders were a mix of the above, not to mention the attitude antics all year.

Lemonis knows what he needs to do now. Next year probably is make or break.

And you might say that Cohen's teams were smaller and they still won, well, that's when we had the previous baseballs. Once 2015 hit he went out and found some men in 2016.

 

[99jc]

go back to bed

 

[57stratdawg]

And we’re probably selling the returning talent on the roster a little short. Would you really be shocked to see guys like Gavin Black, Bradley Loftin, Karson Ligon (?), Nolan Stevens, etc. suddenly looking like competent SEC players after an offseason?

I do agree you can look at us and tell we’re not as talented as the Tenn, A&M and UVA’s of the world. Ultimately back on Lemonis.

 

[patdog]

Coaching grades:
Parker -A
Go-Tro -D
Cheese -F
Lemonis - C

 

[IBleedMaroonDawg]

Coaching grades:
Parker - B+
Go-Tro - D-
Cheese - D
Lemonis - C-

 

[HuntDawg]

Parke- A
geau- D, he coaches infielders too
cheese- D-
lemo- C-

 

[Thebulldogcountry1]

Lemonis makes a top 10 in NCAA salary. I don’t know where the whole staff ranks, but it’s probably top 10 as well. The last three years, they just haven’t earned it. They also haven’t positioned the program to climb back into the top tier.

You can argue different sides of the situation all day long, and it’s been done here for way too long. Fact is, they aren’t earning their paychecks, and they aren't getting paid to rebuild their own mess.

 

[dog99walker]

Hold it.

We were the No. 1 Defense in the SEC.

We were one of the best pitching staffs in the SEC, albeit with only one dependable closer, and he came on late. That, with losing our Friday starter against Evansville.

 

[dog99walker]

All these low grades are by the same Fire Lemonis blowtorches who have grace this board all year. MS State was a much better team this year.

 

[HuntDawg]

All these low grades are by the same Fire Lemonis blowtorches who have grace this board all year. MS State was a much better team this year.

I’m not a fire Lemonis guy:

my grade for Parker is easy to understand. Cheese is responsible for base running and catchers both were well below standard. Could he make chicken salad from chicken sht, I get it… but at the same time we are Mississippi state and if we have chicken sht talent that’s our own fault, he’s grade is what it is. Geau, the offense underachieved. Not one player took that big step forward this year. He gets a D because I did add in the defense but he only coaches infield defense

lemonis— again I use the C as par. Did he do a better than average job this year or not? I don’t think so. We played an extremely easy schedule. We lost to bad teams. We struggled on the road. And the ol saying 1 run games coaches win or lose.. see our record in that. I’ve said all along that we weren’t talented. If I am just basing the team off where the talent puts it then the grade would be slightly higher, but Lemonis job is the entire program. He gets to recruit and shop for groceries. So if he turns into chicken **** bexause we lack something that’s on him. Take the past and future out of it. We have two high draft pick starters, a 1st round bat, and j could continue to list but you get the point… base on what we had this year, schedule, etc… we underachieved slightly. Hence the grade.

 

[onewoof]

Who coaches base running because he's getting a letter

 

[CochiseCowbell]

Who coaches base running because he's getting a letter

Include a copy of this.

 

[The Cooterpoot]

After taking a dump, I think the coaches did a better job this year than the last two.
Parker-A+
Gotro-F
Cheese- Incomplete (does he really do anything?)
Lemonis-D because this should've been a year with a deep, older, talented roster 3 yrs after a natty and it wasn't. He achieved the minimum.
He barely squeaked it out so he should be happy because it was close.

 

[patdog]

Would you really be shocked to see guys like Gavin Black, Bradley Loftin, Karson Ligon (?), Nolan Stevens, etc. suddenly looking like competent SEC players after an offseason?

I would be shocked of a couple of guys don't make big steps up for next season. I would be equally shocked if all of them did, or even most of them did. Of the ones you listed, I think Black and Ligon are most likely to step up.

 

[ronpolk]

While I think we had a very old team that could have done more, we didn't particularly have a ton of talent. Good talent, not great talent. However, this is also on Lemonis and Geautrau, so take from that what you will. All you had to do was look at us against the best teams (even Virginia), and it was apparent. But the fact that we hung with them is also a testament to the coaches.

He better go out and find some men for next season. We always knew Lemonis could mix and match the pieces if he had them, but he was hailed as a good recruiter, and that's the part that's been missing.

We also need to tighten up on the soft culture. All those baserunning blunders were a mix of the above, not to mention the attitude antics all year.

Lemonis knows what he needs to do now. Next year probably is make or break.

And you might say that Cohen's teams were smaller and they still won, well, that's when we had the previous baseballs. Once 2015 hit he went out and found some men in 2016.

I agree 100%… the problem with this season was the last 2 seasons. We won 40 games, finished 5th in the sec, we were a bubble host team (and probably should have hosted)… all that is good and is a good season. Obviously, everyone would like better but it’s hard to argue with the roster he didn’t maximize talent. So many people wanted him gone last year that there was really very little he could do to win that group back. Hell I was in that group. I thought it was time to move on after last season. I’m still not convinced he’s going to sustain a winner here at the level he should but I think he’s earned the right for another year.

 

[patdog]

it’s hard to argue with the roster he didn’t maximize talent.

The #1 most important part of his job is to recruit a talented roster. So no, he doesn't get a pass for that. Last 3 years: disaster, disaster, average.

 

[tcdog70]

our baseball IQ is low--whose fault? Coaches. too many 1 run loses. a good Coach would win as many 1 run games as He would lose. stupid decisions by lemonis --the glaring one was pitching to a lefty with LO-all the while we had 1st base open with two right handers up next(one being the 9 hole hitter). If Lem would have loaded the bases we would have left the 8th up 4-2.

 

[HomeBoyDawg]

Who coaches base running because he's getting a letter

Wish I had a list of base running blunders this year with each graded as to whether a coach was at fault or it was something an 18+ year old who has played ball all of his life should know. My perception is that the vast majority were on the players. For example, my opinion on a few that come to mind in the final game of the regional:

Mershon pickoff at 2nd - That's on Mershon as he was tagged by the 2nd baseman (3rd base coach has shortstop, runner has 2nd baseman)
DJ oversliding base - That's on DJ
DJ not stopping to delay the tag on 1st inning double-play - That's on DJ

 

[The Cooterpoot]

Wish I had a list of base running blunders this year with each graded as to whether a coach was at fault or it was something an 18+ year old who has played ball all of his life should know. My perception is that the vast majority were on the players. For example, my opinion on a few that come to mind in the final game of the regional:

Mershon pickoff at 2nd - That's on Mershon as he was tagged by the 2nd baseman (3rd base coach has shortstop, runner has 2nd baseman)
DJ oversliding base - That's on DJ
DJ not stopping to delay the tag on 1st inning double-play - That's on DJ

We can blame the players (and we should a lot) but the coach has to tear them a new ******* at some point too. If you keep allowing it, it's on the coach. We know there's a lack of discipline out there, it's been documented in the past. There's just nobody fixing problems.

 

[thatsbaseball]

After our typical MState family argument about firing or keeping a coach it's always been interesting to me to follow coaches after we did finally fire them. It's my opinion if we fired Lemonis he would struggle to get another HC job at another P5 baseball program. After sleeping on it I still have him as the Gene Chizik of college baseball.

Edited to add: the argument may last up to 4 years

 

[Darryl Steight]

And we’re probably selling the returning talent on the roster a little short. Would you really be shocked to see guys like Gavin Black, Bradley Loftin, Karson Ligon (?), Nolan Stevens, etc. suddenly looking like competent SEC players after an offseason?

I do agree you can look at us and tell we’re not as talented as the Tenn, A&M and UVA’s of the world. Ultimately back on Lemonis.

Add Kupp

 

[patdog]

Wish I had a list of base running blunders this year with each graded as to whether a coach was at fault or it was something an 18+ year old who has played ball all of his life should know. My perception is that the vast majority were on the players. For example, my opinion on a few that come to mind in the final game of the regional:

Mershon pickoff at 2nd - That's on Mershon as he was tagged by the 2nd baseman (3rd base coach has shortstop, runner has 2nd baseman)
DJ oversliding base - That's on DJ
DJ not stopping to delay the tag on 1st inning double-play - That's on DJ

It's on the coaches. Why do our players continue to do stupid things on the base path? Well coached players don't make those Little League mistakes.

 

[The Cooterpoot]

Base running in general is an area that's fallen off from rec ball to the pros. It's not being taught like it once was. Kids are being sold velo and launch angles etc. as the "cool" sales pitch because it's easier to get kids to "buy in". The days of selling working your sack off is limited now days. It's about getting kids into a program to make money.
One of the places I was involved with about 10 years ago brought in a coach from California just to teach base running. He taught footwork defensively as well for MIF. Was one of the most impressive coaches I've ever seen.

 

[kired]

Who coaches base running because he's getting a letter

It kills me that anyone thinks Cheese is the "base running" coach. He coaches catchers.

Most of our issues were just dumb mental mistakes. In my opinion that's on Lemonis - he's got to set the tone that **** like that won't fly. Most of these guys have been playing baseball nonstop since they were 5 years old. A college player who doesn't know how to run bases is like a normal college student struggling to read. If they haven't learned it by now, they're never going to get it.

 

[thekimmer]

Parker A+
GoT C-
Cheese F
Lem C-

Overall C

Parker honchoed the biggest turnaround I have ever witnessed of a college pitching staff. We were not elite but to go from where we were in May 2023 to where we wound up in May 2024 was truly miraculous.
GoT gets a C- because we had a lot of experienced hitters on this team that not only never took a step forward they regressed. Lack of even average hitting almost single handedly kept us from hosting a regional if not a top 8 NS.
Cheese. If he was in charge of baserunning he deserves an F just for that alone.
Lem gets a C- for hiring Parker which alone got us in a position to host a regional but gets dinged for subpar hitting and stupid mistakes that cost us games and ultimately led to us having to travel for post season. He gets a C- because the team underperformed therefore he underperformed. He earned another year but did not build back any of the goodwill that he threw away in massive quantities the last two seasons.
Overall I give the team a C because we achieved the bare minimum I expect out of a MSU baseball team.

 

[maroonmania]

Parke- A
geau- D, he coaches infielders too
cheese- D-
lemo- C-

Yep, we ended up tied for the 3rd best fielding % in the SEC and had the 4th best pitching staff ERA in the league so hard to criticize much in those areas. Baserunning blunders (very frequent) and timely hitting were big problems and that is why we ended up losing so many close games. The offense really fell off the last 11 games of the year for whatever reason and it seemed in any game we either had DJ, Hines or Hugesack hitting but never more than one of those. Of those games (Missouri, SEC tourney and regional games) we only broke the 5 run barrier twice. Once against a bad Missouri team (8 runs) and once against St. John's in the 3rd game of the regional. Trying to consistently win games scoring 1 to 5 runs is a tough chore and one of the reasons I lost all confidence in winning our regional against a good offensive team in VA. Not sure what Gotro might could have done but his offense really ended up being a disappointment at the end of the year and was the primary reason we couldn't advance. Take away DJ, Hines, Hugesack, Larry and Kohler for next year and things look pretty pessimistic for next year's offense. No way around it, our offense should have been significantly better than it was this year especially at the end of the year.

 

[Seinfeld]

Parker A+
GoT C-
Cheese F
Lem C-

Overall C


GoT gets a C- because we had a lot of experienced hitters on this team that not only never took a step forward they regressed. Lack of even average hitting almost single handedly kept us from hosting a regional if not a top 8 NS.

I don't disagree with anything here, but out of curiosity, why does that description only earn him a C- rather than something worse?

I'm not trying to pick on Robbie, but on T&L today he made another comment about how his sources close the program have indicated that our hitters aren't doing the things that Gautreau has been teaching them, but I'm honestly not sure what is worse. Being a terrible hitting coach or having a lineup full of guys that won't listen to you. I realize that Lemonis isn't getting rid of him, but at the very least, Lemonis and Selmon should be having a candid conversation about why he should or shouldn't return in '25