Sobering thought re: baseball coach

[State82]

I've been saying that our head baseball position would be somewhat analogous to the football position at, say, Alabama. Obviously not from a standpoint of championships, but a program that is well known around the country and has been pretty consistent over the years and has a rabid fan base. Their football job would be considered a Top 5 position and so would our baseball job. Anyway, assuming this to be the case, I thought about the fiasco Alabama faced prior to the Shula hire. They went through a number of well qualified and well known candidates and couldn't get anyone to to commit, so they finally came up with Mike. We all know how that worked out for them. This brings up my concern. What are the chances we end up in the same situation in trying to hire an established head coach? What makes our present situation different from theirs in football at that time? Their probation, maybe?

 

[rugbdawg]

coach position would be a better position than our baseball head coach position. At least they have won some national championships. Our "tradition" and "prestige" is ENTIRELY in the minds of our fans, again this is VERY unfortunate. Alabama football fans are certainly delusional but our baseball fans are much more delusional. We have never won a national championship and we expect greatness.

 

[SanfordRJones]

For one thing, we don't put as much demand on our baseball coach (or any of our coaches, for that matter) as they do on their football coach, for better or worse.

 

[graddawg]

There's no question that being the head football coach at Alabama is MUCH more prestigious than being the baseball coach at Mississippi State, but to say something like, "our "tradition" and "prestige" is ENTIRELY in the minds of our fans, again this is VERY unfortunate" is total BS. The major story about last years Super Regionals from every media outlet that covers college baseball referred to our attendance as the major story from the weekend. Most college baseball people still consider us one of the top 10 or 15 programs in the country.

 

[KurtRambis4]

that's probably why he said not from a championship standpoint

 

[patdog]

In the very best period of MSU baseball ever (1979-2000), we only made it to the CWS 4 times in 12 years, going 5-8 and never even playing for a national title. That's pretty damn good, but it's nowhere near what Alabama football was in the 70s. When we beat them 6-3 in 1980 they had lost something like 12 games in the past 11 years (and had won 3 national titles). MSU baseball tradition and prestige has been built by the fans.
</p>
Edited to add that what we did on the field from 1979 to 2000 was pretty damn good. But it's not the stuff that makes you an elite program. The elite programs of that era were Texas, Miami and Cal. St. Fullerton.

 

[jwbigcreek]

I would say that era of MSU baseball was comparable to the Pat Dye years at Auburn. Multiple SEC championships, major bowls, etc. What UAT did in the 70's is just sick. They were a machine.

 

[Todd4State]

There is no comparison to us and Bama really. The reason is because it's Bear Bryant vs Ron Polk. When Bryant left, they were still good enough to make the LB, so a lot of their fans still hold him in high esteem. Polk left with the program in flux, and proved that he couldn't do it anymore, and that has tarnished his image to the point that people don't think he's the baseball god anymore.

Bryant also won multiple NC's at Bama, and they were the most dominant team in the SEC, ever- yes moreso than Spurrier's Gators- and that's just not going to happen again- even with Saban. Not in today's SEC and not in today's CFB landscape. Polk has never won a NC, so all the next coach has to do is win one to outdo Polk. Polk also won 4-5 SEC Championships- the claimed five at Dudy-Noble on Sat.- and even Paul Gregory won four in a shorter period of time. So our bar can be raised, whereas Bama's can't.

Also, by Polk tarnishing his image, a lot of our fans could care less if the next coach has ties to him. It wasn't like that for years at Bama- ask Bill Curry.

 

[bulldogcountry1]

<p class="MsoNormal" style="MARGIN: 0pt">hen it became available, there are vast differences. before shula was hired, bama fans still believed they were the best and had sky-high expectations. sure they had a lot of attractions as far as money, history, support, etc., but it was a no-win situation because the talent wasn't there and they were in trouble with the ncaa. like todd said, there's no way they were going to dominate like they did in the past. few coaches would want to take on that kind of pressure.

with the baseball position, you have a perfect situation for a coach in my opinion. you're walking into a place that sells 5000 season tickets, has money, has a ton of charm, and has a respectable history. the key is that, while expectations are moderately high, they aren't unreasonable.

it's easy to say that our opinion of ourselves (as fans) might be inflated and the job isn't as prestigious as we'd like to think, but if look at it objectively, there is probably less than 10 possible openings that would have as much overall appeal to a coach.</p>

 

[8dog]

why people think State has an inflated view of itself. No one is demanding to go to the CWS every year. No one is asking to even go to Supers every year. But we damn sure should expect a lot more than what we have been getting. I think hosting a regional every other year is not unreasonable. I think getting a national seed once every 5 years is not unreasonable. We really aren't asking any more than most programs ask--have a chance to host with regularity. That's the key. After that, anything can happen.

 

[cowbell9]

job. Especially at this point in time. The new coach will be in high cotton from the get go. It wont be long begore we have record crowds again and are a major player in the NCAA's every year.

 

[maroonmania]

every year would be a big step up after missing it for 3 of the last 5. I mean you only have to finish ahead of 4 freakin' other schools in the conference to make the dang thing. Granted there seems to be no yearly pushovers left in the SEC but you wouldn't think finishing out of the bottom third in the league would be that difficult for us.

 

[Stormrider81]

Every once in a while we see a post that tell us we have an overinflated view of ourselves. That's incorrect in pretty much every way possible. First, MSU fans have never demanded too much. If we host a regional the fans are pretty happy with that. If we make it to Omaha once every 3-4 years, again the fans are happy. Win an SEC title here, host regionals at least every other year or so, get to a few supers and CWS's, etc. The highest we've finished in Omaha is 3rd. It's not like people are claiming national titles are around the corner. MSU fans do expect us to be one of the top 4-5 programs in the conference. If that is overinflated then you can make that claim about a lot of schools.

Look at all the attention this opening and Ron's retirement is getting in college baseball circles. Look at the attention our SR attendance got last year. MSU is still a recognized name in college baseball, and our tradition (of winning consistently), facilities, and support put us in the top 10-20 jobs in the nation. When you have coaches at other schools writing pieces raving about your fanbase and atmosphere, I can't see how anyone can act like our standing in college baseball is a creation in the minds of our fanbase.</p>

 

[JacksonTiger1]

nm

 

[8dog]

"Granted there seems to be no yearly pushovers left in the SEC"

While there are no consistent pushovers, there are usually at least 3 teams that suck every year. Unfortunately, we have usually been 1 of those 3.

Its amazing what a coaching change will do. TX A&M has a program that is nearly identical to ours. They got rid of their legendary coach for underperforming. They went and got an asst from an established program and hosted&won a regional in Childers second year. In this, his third year, they won the Big 12 and will likely be a national seed.

Its all about the coach.