I am really curious to know what he thinks of the whole situation. Is he "crushed" as someone said? Is he embarassed because Polk put him in such an awkward situation? Is he pissed because Polk (allegedly) promised him a job, years ago, that wasn't really his to offer? Does he hate Byrne now? I have never met him but if he's as good a guy as everyone says, he has to just be embarassed by Polk and the whole fiasco. </p>
So does anyone on here know Tommy Raffo personally?
- Thread starter bulldogbaja
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or more like my old lady knows his wife (graduated from same high school albeit a few years earlier than Paula). Always liked her family (went to school 3-12 with her big sis). We were looking at moving to the Jewel about 3 years back & the wife & Paula talked a lot. Hope TR lands a good job as he has given a lot to MSU over the last several years (still glad we chose Cohen though).
To be honest, I am not interested in hearing from him on the subject. As far as he is concerned, a reporter calling him is a little like shoving the mic in the face of the widow on the evening news.
He thought all along that Polk would be able to name the replacement, as apparently Polk himself thought. And now, after working over 10 years to get a job, all he does is lose his job. It is probably very, very difficult to handle. I don't fault him for not wanting to talk about it.
We made the right decision on a coach, but comments from Raffo? I'll pass. </p>
He thought all along that Polk would be able to name the replacement, as apparently Polk himself thought. And now, after working over 10 years to get a job, all he does is lose his job. It is probably very, very difficult to handle. I don't fault him for not wanting to talk about it.
We made the right decision on a coach, but comments from Raffo? I'll pass. </p>
Know him personally and my wife and I made an attempt to reach out to them. They are wanting to be left alone. Tommy cleared his office on Saturday and they are moving with no plans to hang around Starkville. They hope to have the house ready by this weekend. They are really devastated over this decision. From what I have gathered over the years it appears Polk had kept him from leaving b/c he thought Raffo would be his successor. Tommy's focus was to be the next head coach of the MSU baseball program. His (like Cohen's) "dream job". His wife (in my opinion) has just about the same mindset as Polk's. She has said a lot of things that I will not post on here. I've seen their kids since the announcement was made and it appears they may not know. I dont see the sadness I would expect from them.
For the record, I'm a Tommy Raffo fan. He's lived, eat and breathed MSU baseball. His wife and family has sacrificed dearly for being the spouse/child of a coach. I'm very excited to have Cohen as our head baseball coach but I would have been fine with Tommy. I thought that if came down to money it would be Raffo but it appears money was not the object. I have gathered over the years that he (Tommy) has a different gameplan than Polk however when you are the assistant, you "are the assistant" therefore a lot of the blame falls on his shoulders for various areas of our game (hitting etc). I used to tell my employees that "if you screw up, I want it to be because I told you to do something a certain way". "I want the blame". "Dont be a hero". I think this is the way Polk runs his program as well.
Lastly, I want to say that I get sick of all the criticism on the board knowing some of the people on here have never worn a jock. It is free speech and I can appreciate that but I think it is time to leave the Raffo's alone and wish them well.
For the record, I'm a Tommy Raffo fan. He's lived, eat and breathed MSU baseball. His wife and family has sacrificed dearly for being the spouse/child of a coach. I'm very excited to have Cohen as our head baseball coach but I would have been fine with Tommy. I thought that if came down to money it would be Raffo but it appears money was not the object. I have gathered over the years that he (Tommy) has a different gameplan than Polk however when you are the assistant, you "are the assistant" therefore a lot of the blame falls on his shoulders for various areas of our game (hitting etc). I used to tell my employees that "if you screw up, I want it to be because I told you to do something a certain way". "I want the blame". "Dont be a hero". I think this is the way Polk runs his program as well.
Lastly, I want to say that I get sick of all the criticism on the board knowing some of the people on here have never worn a jock. It is free speech and I can appreciate that but I think it is time to leave the Raffo's alone and wish them well.
Well, as I've said many times, I feel sorry for Tommy in this instance as well. I've met him a couple of times and he IS a really nice guy, no doubt about it. I always liked him personality-wise moreso than I ever did Ron Polk. This is a tough, heart-breaking situation for him and his family, and I understand why they're not commenting right now. I do hope some day that he'll open up about it, especially after there's been some time to heal the wounds.
Not to criticize Tommy, but I believe at some point he needs to look in the mirror and realize that this is probably at least partly his own fault. Ron Polk likely strung him along and let him believe that the head coaching job was his when Polk eventually retired for good, but in many ways that's taking a big gamble on your future. Tommy had to at least think about the possibility of regime change in the athletic department, although I realize years ago that it looked like LT would have the AD job for the rest of his life. That was no guarantee though.
The best thing Tommy could have done years ago was to be proactive, ask Ron Polk to help him get a head coaching job somewhere else, and build up his resume for when the time came to choose the next head coach at MSU. That not only would have given Raffo a much bigger leg to stand on, but he would have had a secure job to fall back on in case he wasn't chosen. It also wouldn't have put himself and John Cohen in the position of potentially breaking apart a good friendship.
All I can say now is that I hope Tommy lands on his feet with a good job somewhere else, and I hope he'll still keep his love for MSU.
Not to criticize Tommy, but I believe at some point he needs to look in the mirror and realize that this is probably at least partly his own fault. Ron Polk likely strung him along and let him believe that the head coaching job was his when Polk eventually retired for good, but in many ways that's taking a big gamble on your future. Tommy had to at least think about the possibility of regime change in the athletic department, although I realize years ago that it looked like LT would have the AD job for the rest of his life. That was no guarantee though.
The best thing Tommy could have done years ago was to be proactive, ask Ron Polk to help him get a head coaching job somewhere else, and build up his resume for when the time came to choose the next head coach at MSU. That not only would have given Raffo a much bigger leg to stand on, but he would have had a secure job to fall back on in case he wasn't chosen. It also wouldn't have put himself and John Cohen in the position of potentially breaking apart a good friendship.
All I can say now is that I hope Tommy lands on his feet with a good job somewhere else, and I hope he'll still keep his love for MSU.
plan to start. Some folks feel the need to tear others down in order to build themselves up. I'm hoping he gets a good HC job at a mid-major & moves on with life. If he's successful, he can move up to a primo job. I agree with Arrow that he should have flown out of the nest several years ago. If he'd been successful, it would have been a tough call for Greg between him & Cohen.
...promises. I listened to a tape of Ron Polk's interview yesterday afternoon coming home from work, and it pissed me off more than the first time he dissed John Cohen and Greg Byrne. Ron Polk lives in an alternate universe. Tommy Raffo should've known that Ron Polk has his own agenda, his own priorities, his own sense of reality.
He should've moved somewhere else, to get another perspective on college baseball, if he really wanted to be Head Coach at The Mississippi State University, like John Cohen did.
I never met the guy, he might be the nicest fellow in the world, the kind of guy you love to have over for burgers and drinks with the family over the summer, but he sucked as a coach. If he was in charge of recruiting, his recruiting sucked. If he was hitting coach, his coaching stunk. I don't know how many times our hitters tamely looked at strike three, before quietly walking back to the bench.
Even Ron Polk admits John Cohen is a better hire. It's just that he thought Tommy Raffo deserved a shot because he's Ron Polk and nobody crosses Ron Polk. Sorry, Ron, but you quit on Mississippi State THREE times already. Greg Byrne has a job that he's being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to do, and the last thing he was going to do was bring in somebody with NO excitement to the program.
Tommy and Paula, if you're reading this, you may be wonderful people. However, nothing in this world is guaranteed other than you leave feet first. This may be the chance for something better in your lives.
He should've moved somewhere else, to get another perspective on college baseball, if he really wanted to be Head Coach at The Mississippi State University, like John Cohen did.
I never met the guy, he might be the nicest fellow in the world, the kind of guy you love to have over for burgers and drinks with the family over the summer, but he sucked as a coach. If he was in charge of recruiting, his recruiting sucked. If he was hitting coach, his coaching stunk. I don't know how many times our hitters tamely looked at strike three, before quietly walking back to the bench.
Even Ron Polk admits John Cohen is a better hire. It's just that he thought Tommy Raffo deserved a shot because he's Ron Polk and nobody crosses Ron Polk. Sorry, Ron, but you quit on Mississippi State THREE times already. Greg Byrne has a job that he's being paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to do, and the last thing he was going to do was bring in somebody with NO excitement to the program.
Tommy and Paula, if you're reading this, you may be wonderful people. However, nothing in this world is guaranteed other than you leave feet first. This may be the chance for something better in your lives.
How's Nashville? Talk to Terry lately?
BTW, I agree 100% with your statement. I think Polk wrote a check he couldnt cash
BTW, I agree 100% with your statement. I think Polk wrote a check he couldnt cash
Raffo is by all acounts a nice guy and a die hard bulldawg. He's given so much of himself to the school, it must be absolutely devastating to him, and I do geniunely feel bad for him. I place most of the blame on Polk. Polk promised him this job even though he had no right or basis to do that. It has been strongly rumored and believed for years that he kept Tommy from seeking a head job somewhere else because of that promise. Ron Polk should have known better. He should have told Raffo to get head coaching experience to beef up his resume, and that is mostly on Polk. The whole blowup this season is on Polk. Ron put Tommy in a tough spot, a spot where it was head coaching job or bust. People had to choose sides, and unfortunately Raffo was put on Polk's side by default. Tommy just didn't deserve that, not at all. Fans associated a Raffo tenure with an extended Polk tenure and thus many took the side of "we won't show up if he is hired." I put myself in that camp as well. Polk forced the hand of the fans and administration and he was wrong for that.
Now, that doesn't totally excuse Tommy. He should have known that head coaching experience would have beefed up his resume. He should have known that MSU wants someone with head coaching experience. He should have known that the current tenure wasn't getting it done in the eyes of fans and thus an assistant on the current staff wouldn't be highly coveted by fans as taking over head coaching duties. Raffo should have left the nest but he didn't. He has only himself to blame for that. He hitched his cart to Polk and that ended up being a bad move.
I hope Tommy lands somewhere and has a tremendous amount of success. I hope his family is happy wherever he goes. I wish him the best of luck. Tommy isn't a bad guy, but this is business and MSU deserves a proven head coach.
Now, that doesn't totally excuse Tommy. He should have known that head coaching experience would have beefed up his resume. He should have known that MSU wants someone with head coaching experience. He should have known that the current tenure wasn't getting it done in the eyes of fans and thus an assistant on the current staff wouldn't be highly coveted by fans as taking over head coaching duties. Raffo should have left the nest but he didn't. He has only himself to blame for that. He hitched his cart to Polk and that ended up being a bad move.
I hope Tommy lands somewhere and has a tremendous amount of success. I hope his family is happy wherever he goes. I wish him the best of luck. Tommy isn't a bad guy, but this is business and MSU deserves a proven head coach.
If Polk would have retired after last year's CWS appearance, Raffo would have had a helluva better chance at getting the position.
Through this whole situation, it appears that Tommy Raffo has been incredibly nieve. This is really the opinion I've had of him throughout his coaching campaign. He seems like a really nice guy, but at this time, it appears that he would be thrown to the wolves to take over as the head coach. Whether he is ready to go now or not, he needs experience. And, with his resume he'll get it (easily). The world is not over for TR. He'll get a good job at a smaller school and if he does a good job, he'll earn a promotion to a bigger program in a few years.</p>
I think the University it 'over' granting favors to Polk. He would have been fired during his second term if his name were not on the building. He got lazy (especially with recruiting) and when his teams under-performed, he got frustrated and went crazy. Raffo should have known that we were all ready for a new direction. Polk I's performance got McMahon hired with no questions asked. Polk II's performance earned him a few more paychecks.</p>
I think the University it 'over' granting favors to Polk. He would have been fired during his second term if his name were not on the building. He got lazy (especially with recruiting) and when his teams under-performed, he got frustrated and went crazy. Raffo should have known that we were all ready for a new direction. Polk I's performance got McMahon hired with no questions asked. Polk II's performance earned him a few more paychecks.</p>
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