Softball looking forward

#76
#76
Please baby Jesus let Monica come be the new pitching coach....

Monica isn't taking the pay cut to get into coaching at this point in her career.

I think they've identified someone already and may be pretty far down the road on an agreement in principle, but they cannot make any announcement until July 1 for a variety of behind-the-scenes reasons. So don't expect a formal announcement any time soon.
 
#77
#77
Monica isn't taking the pay cut to get into coaching at this point in her career.

I think they've identified someone already and may be pretty far down the road on an agreement in principle, but they cannot make any announcement until July 1 for a variety of behind-the-scenes reasons. So don't expect a formal announcement any time soon.
Can you give us any insight on who it may be?
 
#78
#78
Marty will only be "missed" if his replacement hire is botched. He's not a bad coach, but as a pitching coach, he's less than stellar, at least in his time at UT.
 
#82
#82
Marty hasn't been the pitching coach for many years....

Far from "many". Karen was the pitching coach only for the last couple of years, AFAIK. (Someone else, maybe DP, can elaborate on the exact number of seasons?) Marty I believe went back to pitching coach this season. Karen does indeed call the pitches and has for a long time, but that's not the same as being the pitching coach.

WTBS, I wouldn't be surprised for Karen to go back to pitching coach and for Marc to take over Marty's spot and continue working with the hitters. I think that would break TN's anti-nepotism law (Marc is Ralph's son), but I'm sure UT will make up something to get around it just as they did with Kellie and her husband, assuming Marc is offered the spot and/or wants it.
 
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#83
#83
Far from "many". Karen was the pitching coach only for the last couple of years, AFAIK. (Someone else, maybe DP, can elaborate on the exact number of seasons?) Marty I believe went back to pitching coach this season. Karen does indeed call the pitches and has for a long time, but that's not the same as being the pitching coach.

WTBS, I wouldn't be surprised for Karen to go back to pitching coach and for Marc to take over Marty's spot and continue working with the hitters. I think that would break TN's anti-nepotism law (Marc is Ralph's son), but I'm sure UT will make up something to get around it just as they did with Kellie and her husband, assuming Marc is offered the spot and/or wants it.

I hope that is not the case. We need new blood I believe. They can get around the nepotism will the AD or his proxy being Marcs supervisor!!
 
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#84
#84
Have a gander at Marty’s FB page. He was respected and loved by all former and current players.


Big news. I don't know if this the good news Deerpark was talking about or the transfer, but we needed a change if nothing else for perception. Our pitching development in recent years has not been good and people are using that against us in recruiting. The article seem to imply we may already know who we are hiring. Young and female who knows what they are doing would be great. Marty seems like a nice guy and knows pitching but was time for a change.
 
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#85
#85
Have a gander at Marty’s FB page. He was respected and loved by all former and current players.
I've met him at camps and he has a great personality comes across as kind and funny and as a former fastpitch pitcher he knows pitching no doubt. I am also pretty sure he is a good "cop" on the staff. He did a good job working Turner through the fall and the season as it was. Our pitchers in recent years have been a turnstile. The pitches they come with are the pitches they leave with. Many seem to regress along the way, etc.. Is that all on Marty? We either have too many cooks in the kitchen or too few it is hard to say. I know on the travel ball circuit some people tell others not to send their pitchers here. Will we get someone that adds something extra? I hope so but it may be a failure. When was the last time we were in the WS? Staying the same has not been working lately on the level we expect and hope the Ladyvols to be at. Wish him all the best.
 
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#86
#86
Have a gander at Marty’s FB page. He was respected and loved by all former and current players.

There's always going to be fans that's dissatisfied with the coaching. Our LV softball team has been really good for most of the last couple of decades and coaching/recruiting has played a big part in it. I hope the change will be good for the team. The fact that Marty is liked by practically everyone that knows or played under him speaks volumes for his character. People like Marty will be fondly remembered and that is the ultimate tribute to him.
 
#87
#87
Great post. I agree.

What I read on FB was that he helped players like Gregg and other top hitters with hitting and fielding. I recall seeing Karen calling pitches the last few seasons. And I saw her the previous season in bullpen w moss Rogers and Arnold before a game. To me it appears Karen was the pitching coach. Was Karen even a pitcher? Does she know pitching?

QUOTE="kregman, post: 18276337, member: 43481"]I've met him at camps and he has a great personality comes across as kind and funny and as a former fastpitch pitcher he knows pitching no doubt. I am also pretty sure he is a good "cop" on the staff. He did a good job working Turner through the fall and the season as it was. Our pitchers in recent years have been a turnstile. The pitches they come with are the pitches they leave with. Many seem to recess along the way, etc.. Is that all on Marty? We either have too many cooks in the kitchen or too few it is hard to say. I know on the travel ball circuit some people tell others not to send their pitchers here. Will we get someone that adds something extra? I hope so but it may be a failure. When was the last time we were in the WS? Staying the same has not been working lately on the level we expect and hope the Ladyvols to be at. Wish him all the best.[/QUOTE]
 
#88
#88
Very true. There will always be fans that are dissatisfied. However, reading the FB posts from the players (like Gregg, India etc.) it is apparent that the players were/are dissatisfied. And that Marty was their saving Grace. Just take a look.

There's always going to be fans that's dissatisfied with the coaching. Our LV softball team has been really good for most of the last couple of decades and coaching/recruiting has played a big part in it. I hope the change will be good for the team. The fact that Marty is liked by practically everyone that knows or played under him speaks volumes for his character. People like Marty will be fondly remembered and that is the ultimate tribute to him.
 
#90
#90
I've met him at camps and he has a great personality comes across as kind and funny and as a former fastpitch pitcher he knows pitching no doubt. I am also pretty sure he is a good "cop" on the staff. He did a good job working Turner through the fall and the season as it was. Our pitchers in recent years have been a turnstile. The pitches they come with are the pitches they leave with. Many seem to regress along the way, etc.. Is that all on Marty? We either have too many cooks in the kitchen or too few it is hard to say. I know on the travel ball circuit some people tell others not to send their pitchers here. Will we get someone that adds something extra? I hope so but it may be a failure. When was the last time we were in the WS? Staying the same has not been working lately on the level we expect and hope the Ladyvols to be at. Wish him all the best.

Probably too many. It makes no sense for someone who is not the pitching coach to call the pitches, but I digress. WTBS, we haven't been to OKC since 2015 where we went 0-2, and we were flat out garbage this season. Something needs to change. We are taking in too many elite HS players to not be in OKC on a consistent basis.
 
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#91
#91
Great post. I agree.

What I read on FB was that he helped players like Gregg and other top hitters with hitting and fielding. I recall seeing Karen calling pitches the last few seasons. And I saw her the previous season in bullpen w moss Rogers and Arnold before a game. To me it appears Karen was the pitching coach. Was Karen even a pitcher? Does she know pitching?

Karen has called pitches for a very long time, but wasn't the pitching coach for the vast majority of that time. I know she was the pitching coach for the 2019 season. Maybe 2018, too. (Can't remember.) Marty went back to pitching this season.

Karen was not a pitcher and traditionally coached slappers, which of course is a dying -- and nearly dead -- breed in today's version of softball.
 
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#93
#93
Have a gander at Marty’s FB page. He was respected and loved by all former and current players.


Marty was the glue of the program. Also the jack of all trades (hitting, pitching, pitching BP, hitting fungo for defense. He will definitely be missed. Moving forward the Weekly’s won’t have him as a scapegoat anymore. It will be interesting who fills his shoes.
 
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#94
#94
Far from "many". Karen was the pitching coach only for the last couple of years, AFAIK. (Someone else, maybe DP, can elaborate on the exact number of seasons?) Marty I believe went back to pitching coach this season. Karen does indeed call the pitches and has for a long time, but that's not the same as being the pitching coach.

WTBS, I wouldn't be surprised for Karen to go back to pitching coach and for Marc to take over Marty's spot and continue working with the hitters. I think that would break TN's anti-nepotism law (Marc is Ralph's son), but I'm sure UT will make up something to get around it just as they did with Kellie and her husband, assuming Marc is offered the spot and/or wants it.

They will be hiring a pitching coach. Marc will not be a full time member of the staff.
 
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#97
#97
I've met him at camps and he has a great personality comes across as kind and funny and as a former fastpitch pitcher he knows pitching no doubt. I am also pretty sure he is a good "cop" on the staff. He did a good job working Turner through the fall and the season as it was. Our pitchers in recent years have been a turnstile. The pitches they come with are the pitches they leave with. Many seem to regress along the way, etc.. Is that all on Marty? We either have too many cooks in the kitchen or too few it is hard to say. I know on the travel ball circuit some people tell others not to send their pitchers here. Will we get someone that adds something extra? I hope so but it may be a failure. When was the last time we were in the WS? Staying the same has not been working lately on the level we expect and hope the Ladyvols to be at. Wish him all the best.

Marty was a head coach before coming to Tennessee, albeit at a lower level, so he knows the complete game and was involved in different areas of the team over the years.

As far as the too many cooks comment, there's probably some truth to that, but it's more complicated than that. Karen has called pitches for their entire tenure here, predating Marty. I can't name them off hand, but there are other successful head coaches (that aren't the "pitching coach") that call the game, so it's not unique to here. The downside of your pitching coach calling the game is he/she can't be in the bullpen overseeing the next pitcher warming up or helping someone you want to re-enter fix a hitch in their game. The negative is that the pitching coach doesn't have total control of the pitcher that is on the mound.

Here's why that's important: If a pitcher isn't executing the pitches that are called, who is holding them accountable? What's the process to get them to fix the issues that are causing the lack of execution? Is the pitching coach seeing the issues in execution not being engaged with calling the game, calling set-up pitches, pitch sequences, etc. It's harder for a pitching coach to fix those things in that situation.

In 2019, Karen worked with the pitchers almost exclusively and Marty worked with the hitters. Marty helped Ashley Rogers develop and oversaw the bullpen during the games, but in practice he was working with hitting. The pitching results were roughly the same as the years before, while the hitters had some really good moments. Phillips was able to step in when Seggern was injured, Shipman was off to a great start before the injury, but most of all, they were able to fix Haley Bearden from being a career .100 hitter to a .313 hitter with 15 home runs and a team-high 47 RBI.

With Marc coming on as a Volunteer Asst this year, he moved to working with the hitters and Marty went back to working primarily with the pitchers. I think he got the most out of Turner that you could expect for a freshman thrust into being the only reliable option. Without question if Rogers is healthy this year, they would have been in a much different position when the season ended than they were.
 
#98
#98
Next year if Rogers is healthy and with Turner having gone through the wars we should be in good shape (Bender is solid). I give Turner a lot of credit for keeping at it last year. Most pitchers young or old would have either been screaming at their teammates, pouting, or curled up in the fetal position on rubber crying with the defense we played at times. She rarely changed her demeanor on the mound. One of things I always appreciated about Matty Moss was whether the results were good or not she kept a good attitude and uplifting presence through out. I will always have good memories of her for that.
 
#99
#99
Next year if Rogers is healthy and with Turner having gone through the wars we should be in good shape (Bender is solid). I give Turner a lot of credit for keeping at it last year. Most pitchers young or old would have either been screaming at their teammates, pouting, or curled up in the fetal position on rubber crying with the defense we played at times. She rarely changed her demeanor on the mound. One of things I always appreciated about Matty Moss was whether the results were good or not she kept a good attitude and uplifting presence through out. I will always have good memories of her for that.
I agree Kregman 100 percent ! Matty was always Matty and had more fire and animated on in the circle than Caylan and most all the other pitchers we had. Turner is the same way I feel sure!!
 
Will Hazelwood develop into a reliable option on the mound, or will the incoming freshman from Georgia pass her up on day one? How good?
 

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