Interesting

[BruinVol]

I certainly am keeping that in mind Bruin. Who would have thought that the Aggies, and especially Mizzou, being the Northern most school, that WE WOULDN'T have an easier time making it to the SEC Tourney. Of Course, coaching experience isn't something fans seem to value much, Childress has been at TAMU for 13 years and Jameson is the longest tenured coach in the SEC at 21 years.

Jameson may have coached his last game if they don't see their name on Monday. I don't see them getting in either

 

[bowlinggreenvol]

Keep in mind the league is now 14 teams so while a record of 10 is impressive it certainly isn't apple to apples in comparison


To your last point. That is more proof that the uphill battle this program faces is enormous. When comparing fan support, facilities, recruiting areas, and tradition this program is clearly in the bottom 3 of the league.

IMO we are the 13th best program in the league only ahead of Kentucky when it comes to the ceiling of success

Why? What does Mizzou offer that we don't? The Midwest is lagging well behind the SE, SW and West Coast in talent and competition as evidenced by the lack of Big 10/northern Big 12 teams that make the field.

UofL, UVA and Vandy have proven that upper South teams can succeed and do so consistently, granted UVA and Vandy offer outstanding academics (which can also be a disadvantage).

 

[bowlinggreenvol]

Jameson may have coached his last game if they don't see their name on Monday. I don't see them getting in either

They must have some terrible losses to have such a low RPI, because they're .500 in league and have a top 5 SOS. I don't think any SEC team has ever been left out with 15 conference wins but they'll have to buck the trend of the lowest RPI at large bid in order to make it; nobody in the 50's has made it.

 

[vol66]

Holbrook is looking more and more like he would've been a poor hire. Not that we've been much better but in hindsight I'm glad we didn't hire an unproven HC. As you said, he's running that program down. Supers to regional to missing the tourney all together in his 3 years on the job.

I'm fine with being a middle of the pack program with some 1995, 2005 type seasons sprinkled in here and there. The SEC is a gauntlet and we're at a disadvantage from a prestige, weather and home-grown talent standpoint compared to the Deep South schools. But we're not at much of competitive disadvantage from those standpoints with Mizzou, UK, Vandy or Arkansas (except recent prestige on the last 2). All have issues to overcome more so than the programs in the "Sun Belt".

I disagree. my point on Holbrook and Cohen is that...this happens in baseball. Both of those squads were supposed to be better, but injuries, like Will Crowe, happen.

One would think that a team like SC, who has recruited so well, would be immune...not the case.

It has baffled me, as a fan, all season... that when we found out Cox and Martin weren't healthy enough to start the season that people's expectations weren't lower. We had to replace the entire weekend rotation...and yet...this is the first time a Tennessee team has made the SEC tourney, back to back, in 10 years. Yes, we lost both times by a run, it sucks.

 

[BruinVol]

Why? What does Mizzou offer that we don't? The Midwest is lagging well behind the SE, SW and West Coast in talent and competition as evidenced by the lack of Big 10/northern Big 12 teams that make the field.

UofL, UVA and Vandy have proven that upper South teams can succeed and do so consistently, granted UVA and Vandy offer outstanding academics (which can also be a disadvantage).

Louisville has made a top 5 program out of Midwest talent. Look at Indiana the past few years and illinois this year.

Missouri offers the best of both worlds for that Midwestern talent. Close to home and play in the sec. I give them slight edge over us but certainly understand your opinion

 

[volforlife50]

For the same reason Martin gets credit for Stokes and Pearl does not...The guy that gets fired, though he laid the ground work, doesn't get to take credit for the new coach having to come in and keep the kid from leaving...Mike Hamilton laid the ground work for CDS, but Joan Cronin was the one standing there at the press conference and she will get the blame, or the kudos, however it turns out...and rightly so.

LOL That reasoning sucks. Maddox goes to CTR, not that it matters. Leave CDS alone and let him work, IF, he makes some coaching changes. On a different subject, I seen some father/son things going on in the dugout in the Ark game. Thats gotta be tough. He needs to let the pitching coach do his job also.

 

[bowlinggreenvol]

Louisville has made a top 5 program out of Midwest talent. Look at Indiana the past few years and illinois this year.

Missouri offers the best of both worlds for that Midwestern talent. Close to home and play in the sec. I give them slight edge over us but certainly understand your opinion

Talent which is thought to be inferior by many in other parts of the country.

 

[vol66]

LOL That reasoning sucks. Maddox goes to CTR, not that it matters. Leave CDS alone and let him work, IF, he makes some coaching changes. On a different subject, I seen some father/son things going on in the dugout in the Ark game. Thats gotta be tough. He needs to let the pitching coach do his job also.

That's an interesting comment, hope you will elaborate. I have noticed over the last few games that CDS was making the trips out to the mound instead of Dill and in my opinion CDS handled the pitchers in that Arky game about as well as I've seen all year.

As for my reasoning, if Donnie Tyndall had been able to keep Thompson and the Cofer kid he would have gotten the credit , right? We would have had a PG and a compliment to Richardson, instead those kids are at UVA and FSU...

 

[bowlinggreenvol]

I disagree. my point on Holbrook and Cohen is that...this happens in baseball. Both of those squads were supposed to be better, but injuries, like Will Crowe, happen.

One would think that a team like SC, who has recruited so well, would be immune...not the case.

It has baffled me, as a fan, all season... that when we found out Cox and Martin weren't healthy enough to start the season that people's expectations weren't lower. We had to replace the entire weekend rotation...and yet...this is the first time a Tennessee team has made the SEC tourney, back to back, in 10 years. Yes, we lost both times by a run, it sucks.

I was too hard on Holbrook. His overall record is better than I thought. Postseason performance is the only thing that's dropped off in his tenure. Cohen is an average coach IMO, not terrible but not overly spectacular.

 

[99gator]

the Serrano experiment has been an epic fail and that's the blunt truth.

There isn't anyone on the board that expected the highlight of four seasons worth of baseball to be qualifying for Hoover on the final game of the season.

I don't think help is on the way.

What must be done eventually should be done immediately.

Serrano is a dead man walking.

JMO

 

[vol66]

Louisville has made a top 5 program out of Midwest talent. Look at Indiana the past few years and illinois this year.

Missouri offers the best of both worlds for that Midwestern talent. Close to home and play in the sec. I give them slight edge over us but certainly understand your opinion

Talent which is thought to be inferior by many in other parts of the country.

Those are powerhouse programs, UVA, Louisville and Vandy...Brian O'Conner has been there over a decade, CWS runner up just last year...The guy at Louisville has been there I think 9 years and Corbin has been there 13 years and is coming off a CWS Championship...we're 13th in attendance, Mizzou is 14....

 

[vol66]

the Serrano experiment has been an epic fail and that's the blunt truth.

There isn't anyone on the board that expected the highlight of four seasons worth of baseball to be qualifying for Hoover on the final game of the season.

I don't think help is on the way.

What must be done eventually should be done immediately.

Serrano is a dead man walking.

JMO

Coming from a fan that has one juco player on the roster and five or six out of state kids.

 

[bowlinggreenvol]

Those are powerhouse programs, UVA, Louisville and Vandy...Brian O'Conner has been there over a decade, CWS runner up just last year...The guy at Louisville has been there I think 9 years and Corbin has been there 13 years and is coming off a CWS Championship...we're 13th in attendance, Mizzou is 14....

They're powerhouse programs because they've been built into powerhouse programs by those coaches. Those programs had 7 COMBINED NCAA appearances in their history before those coaches got there. Which is the point. Programs with little history, "poor" weather and poor in state talent can still be successful and do so consistently. Those are the reoccurring excuses given for why we can't be successful.

McDonnel had UofL in the CWS his first season after they had 1 NCAAT appearance total in their programs history. O'Connor took UVA to the NCAAT and finished 2nd in the ACC in his first year after they hadn't been to the NCAAT in 9 years. Took Corbin 2 years to get a team to the NCAAT that hadn't been in 24 years. Why does Serrano need more time to turn it around than those guys did?

And what does attendance have to do with anything? Our's and Mizzou's attendance numbers suck because we field mediocre teams and because the first month of the season is terribly cold.

 

[bowlinggreenvol]

If I'm a Power 4 AD (for baseball purposes) making a coaching change, I offer to make Dan McDonnell the highest paid coach in college baseball right off the bat and make him tell me no.

 

[vol66]

They're powerhouse programs because they've been built into powerhouse programs by those coaches. Those programs had 7 COMBINED NCAA appearances before those coaches got there. Which is the point. Programs with little history, "poor" weather and poor in state talent can still be successful and do so consistently. Those are the reoccurring excuses given for why we can't be successful. And what does attendance have to do with anything? Our's and Mizzou's attendance numbers suck because we field mediocre teams and because the first month of the season is terribly cold.

I've made no excuses. They've had stability. I agree that they had success along the way, that allowed for more time, more success than Coach Serrano has had. Certainly.

I have said that I believe CDS underestimated the job, that he underestimated the talent required, that he underestimated the value of being able to go .500 in this league and that he over estimated in his first two years his own abilities to turn pitchers that might be great at CSF or UCI into SEC pitchers night in, night out.

This is not Todd Raleigh. CDS, if fired tomorrow, will get another job and people will wonder, what is it about the lack of patience that we have for coaches that don't hit the ground running on all cylinders.

 

[vol66]

If I'm a Power 4 AD (for baseball purposes) making a coaching change, I offer to make Dan McDonnell the highest paid coach in college baseball right off the bat and make him tell me no.

I think you and I have had this discussion before, that's not gonna happen. I'd kill to have their AD and the coach in a package deal...I at least like the way you think, the only other name that gets tossed around is Chris Burke.

 

[bowlinggreenvol]

I've made no excuses. They've had stability. I agree that they had success along the way, that allowed for more time, more success than Coach Serrano has had. Certainly.

I have said that I believe CDS underestimated the job, that he underestimated the talent required, that he underestimated the value of being able to go .500 in this league and that he over estimated in his first two years his own abilities to turn pitchers that might be great at CSF or UCI into SEC pitchers night in, night out.

This is not Todd Raleigh. CDS, if fired tomorrow, will get another job and people will wonder, what is it about the lack of patience that we have for coaches that don't hit the ground running on all cylinders.

The lack of patience is set by precedent in this league and others that 5 years is enough to turn around a program, if you're a good coach. I think his coaching prowess has been overestimated by us as fans, he inherited a great program at Fullerton and one on the upswing at UCI thanks to John Savage. The total rebuild or coaching from scratch has never had to be attempted.

 

[bowlinggreenvol]

I think you and I have had this discussion before, that's not gonna happen. I'd kill to have their AD and the coach in a package deal...I at least like the way you think, the only other name that gets tossed around is Chris Burke.

He has less incentive to leave now that he's in a major conference and Hart and UT will never do it. That's why I admire Jay Jacobs so much at Auburn, he gets who he wants because he understands ROI. AU baseball has been a dumpster too and he goes out and pulls a very solid coach in Golloway from OU. He hired a 2x WCWS champion coach for his softball program, plus Gus and Pearl.

Same goes for Jurich at UofL.

 

[vol66]

The lack of patience is set by precedent in this league and others that 5 years is enough to turn around a program, if you're a good coach. I think his coaching prowess has been overestimated by us as fans, he inherited a great program at Fullerton and one on the upswing at UCI thanks to John Savage.

And one with absolutely none, literally nothing. Sometimes I wonder if the posters on VN played sports. It seems like they all did. That they played for championships every year, or possibly coached a team to championships every year...That is not my experience and though I wish it were, it is not.

I got "called up" to Little League a year early because I was fast, I could field...it took me until my final year, 2 years where I did not even get a blooper to fall, 3 years to get a hit and I led the league in BA and RBI. So I know exactly how Santiago felt in that Arkansas game, and why the crowd reacted the way it did...and his team mates, ...hell you would have thought it was a grand slam...just an RBI to tie the game.

I played HS football and never went to the play-offs, but I coached middle school football and went to the Championship game every year winning three out of five and I remember the losses more than the victories even though I know, in the losses, we didn't have the Jmmys and the Joes.

I was around for the last baseball search, it will be interesting to see who is around for the next one should that come to pass.

 

[Volsfaninva917]

Coming from a fan that has one juco player on the roster and five or six out of state kids.

Its obvious your not going to come off your CDS pedestal for whatever reason. Year 4 is complete and the program isnt any better than it was in year one, sure we made the SEC tournament but doesn't really mean anything unless its putting UT in NCAA contention. Its not stupid to compare previous coaches, its pretty sorry to look at that. CTR has been gone for a while and people are still blaming him because of their love for CDS. There is no reason Tennessee should not be a top 10 conference program every year. Is Vanderbilt going to always be the top program in the state? Probably so, but we should steal some from them once in a while. The SEC has eaten CDS up and spit him out, the league is way over his head and IMO he belongs in a OVC type league.

 

[99gator]

Coming from a fan that has one juco player on the roster and five or six out of state kids.

I know florida has it easier when it comes to baseball. So do most schools in the SEC. I know that's a major part of the problem.

But, if that's the position you are going to take, then tennessee may as well not field a team because that problem isn't going away.

It's possible to win there. Is it really, really hard? Certainly.

But, we have product knowledge of Serrano and what he's capable of at Tennessee. It's time to let someone else see if they can do better. I know for financial reasons that he may get his last year. But, this isn't turning around next year.

There may not be a loss more devastating to a team in the SEC than Tennessee losing Stewart either. Taking him out of that lineup will cripple the team offensively.

IMO.

Kentucky still fires their football coaches even though it's really, really hard for kentucky to win in football. At some point, you have to make a new start

 

[bowlinggreenvol]

And one with absolutely none, literally nothing. Sometimes I wonder if the posters on VN played sports. It seems like they all did. That they played for championships every year, or possibly coached a team to championships every year...That is not my experience and though I wish it were, it is not.

I got "called up" to Little League a year early because I was fast, I could field...it took me until my final year, 2 years where I did not even get a blooper to fall, 3 years to get a hit and I led the league in BA and RBI. So I know exactly how Santiago felt in that Arkansas game, and why the crowd reacted the way it did...and his team mates, ...hell you would have thought it was a grand slam...just an RBI to tie the game.

I played HS football and never went to the play-offs, but I coached middle school football and went to the Championship game every year winning three out of five and I remember the losses more than the victories even though I know, in the losses, we didn't have the Jmmys and the Joes.

I was around for the last baseball search, it will be interesting to see who is around for the next one should that come to pass.

66, that problem of "absolutely nothing" was valid in year 1 & 2 maybe year 3. No one has a problem with his early tenure, we understood what it would be like. The problem is its year 4 and we weren't much better and year 5 has the potential of being worse.

You say his first class, maybe 2 were busts; well that's on CDS and the staff. He missed evaluated talent or failed to develop it, take your pick. If a kid's a poor athlete that stinks it up on the college level, I'm not going to blame him for being bad. It's not his fault he doesn't have the skills to be here but someone still offered to pay his schooling.

 

[feathersax]

I actually read all the posts in this thread. :banghead2:

 

[bc_powder]

Sooo when is UT gonna fire Serrano and hire Chris Burke?

 

[volforlife50]

That's an interesting comment, hope you will elaborate. I have noticed over the last few games that CDS was making the trips out to the mound instead of Dill and in my opinion CDS handled the pitchers in that Arky game about as well as I've seen all year.

As for my reasoning, if Donnie Tyndall had been able to keep Thompson and the Cofer kid he would have gotten the credit , right? We would have had a PG and a compliment to Richardson, instead those kids are at UVA and FSU...

After son came off the field he sat down in the dugout, father comes over to him and began to talk. Son pulls his hat off and gives Dad the "what the hell" look and begins to show frustration towards Dad. Normal father/son stuff, its gotta be tough.

I'll give you a small sample of the problem. Look up a kid named Sal Ramano. Sal signed with UT in the fall of 2010. Sal was enrolled at UT for the 2011 summer semester. I met Sal at the field by accident one day, good kid. CDS was hired, never contacted the kid, he gets drafted and leaves. HE WANTED TO BE A VOL BUT WAS IGNORED. Thats just one example.

Most posters here really have no clue about circumstances surrounding the program.