We won't fire Lemonis, and we shouldn't, but I wish he would just leave

[Quaoarsking]

Let's lower his buyout to $0 and hope someone hires him away.

We are underachieving in the SEC by 4-5 wins this year. The team has talent and heart, but we should be in line for a top 8 or higher national seed if not for his baffling decisions and inability to manage a bullpen. He's simply not getting everything out of this team that a good coach would, just like he didn't in 2022 or 2023. A good coach, one that we could afford to bring in, should be able to.

And, yes, I continue to predict we will make Omaha in spite of him. But he's holding us back from continuing our elite national standard we held from 2011 through 2021.

[Activated Alpha]

Let's lower his buyout to $0 and hope someone hires him away.

We are underachieving in the SEC by 4-5 wins this year. The team has talent and heart, but we should be in line for a top 8 or higher national seed if not for his baffling decisions and inability to manage a bullpen. He's simply not getting everything out of this team that a good coach would, just like he didn't in 2022 or 2023. A good coach, one that we could afford to bring in, should be able to.

And, yes, I continue to predict we will make Omaha in spite of him. But he's holding us back from continuing our elite national standard we held from 2011 through 2021.

This team doesn't have the consistency to make it to Omaha. First game, where I can remember, we get outstanding production from the bottom of the lineup only for the top of the lineup to shite the bed. Our bullpen is like watching a hobo shit tomato gravy from his ass, just not good outside of Hardin (minus Fri) and Davis. Now why can Arkansas pitch their guy multiple times a weekend, but we can't even bother with it when it mattered?

[MaroonFlounder]

This team doesn't have the consistency to make it to Omaha. First game, where I can remember, we get outstanding production from the bottom of the lineup only for the top of the lineup to shite the bed. Our bullpen is like watching a hobo shit tomato gravy from his ass, just not good outside of Hardin (minus Fri) and Davis. Now why can Arkansas pitch their guy multiple times a weekend, but we can't even bother with it when it mattered?

We did pitch Harden twice. He was 50/50

[Bothrops]

No, no, no....and no

[Leeshouldveflanked]

Next years roster looks rough. He is going to have to pull in a lot of Portal players just to be competitive

[Activated Alpha]

We did pitch Harden twice. He was 50/50

When it mattered. Should have brought him in earlier in the game, but we waited until we had already given up the lead

[maroonmania]

Next years roster looks rough. He is going to have to pull in a lot of Portal players just to be competitive

Yep, this is the up cycle year. Next year looks to be a major struggle unless we have get multiple studs out of the transfer portal.

[Cooterpoot]

Let's lower his buyout to $0 and hope someone hires him away.

We are underachieving in the SEC by 4-5 wins this year. The team has talent and heart, but we should be in line for a top 8 or higher national seed if not for his baffling decisions and inability to manage a bullpen. He's simply not getting everything out of this team that a good coach would, just like he didn't in 2022 or 2023. A good coach, one that we could afford to bring in, should be able to.

And, yes, I continue to predict we will make Omaha in spite of him. But he's holding us back from continuing our elite national standard we held from 2011 through 2021.

We're close to hosting and have improved a ton this year. The only problem is recruiting. We should extend him but not for four years or with a significant buyout.

[civildawg]

He should be fired if he doesn't make it to a SR this year but we won't because we are pussies.

[StateDawg44]

We're close to hosting and have improved a ton this year. The only problem is recruiting. We should extend him but not for four years or with a significant buyout.

Extend him?!

Please Lord not this.

[CaptainObvious]

We're close to hosting and have improved a ton this year. The only problem is recruiting. We should extend him but not for four years or with a significant buyout.

That would definitely be the Mississippi State thing to do. Give him another 4 years and stupid buyout to watch him make the tourney this year and go 2 & BBQ, thrn tank the next 2 years like 22 & 23 in hopes he will turn it around again in 27 enough to make the Tourney again.

The Roster is what it is because of the Head Coach!

We don't have anyone to step up and be a DH, a consistent middle reliever or a closer. A true closer can pitch 2 innings on Friday and an inning on Sunday.

[civildawg]

It's like our fanbase forgot about the worst two years in our history with Lemonis in charge, it's crazy.

[HoopsDawg]

Extend him?!

Please Lord not this.

Tough spot.

Selmon has to do something with his contract after this season. But we need to be nimble enough to fire him if we lose Parker and/or miss the tournament next year.

[KOdawg1]

I wouldn't do anything that would make firing him at the end of next year more difficult

[CaptainObvious]

Tough spot.

Selmon has to do something with his contract after this season. But we need to be nimble enough to fire him if we lose Parker and/or miss the tournament next year.

He doesn't have to do anything. If Selmon says we are standing pat with no extension or raise, Lemonis will probably catch the first Bus across the State Line. Then Selmon could just waive the buyout and let him walk, and State slips out of a pickle and start the rebuild that is inevitable with a new head man.

[Quaoarsking]

He doesn't have to do anything. If Selmon says we are standing pat with no extension or raise, Lemonis will probably catch the first Bus across the State Line. Then Selmon could just waive the buyout and let him walk, and State slips out of a pickle and start the rebuild that is inevitable with a new head man.

Are you saying that Cohen is going to hire Lemonis at Auburn?

[CaptainObvious]

Are you saying that Cohen is going to hire Lemonis at Auburn?

Well, he has been to Omaha multiple times with more than one team so he would be Cohen's Dream Coach for Auburn.

[Cooterpoot]

Extend him?!

Please Lord not this.

You don't think hosting a regional is good? LOL
Some of you have this false reality in your heads about how insanely great MSU baseball has been. We have one title ever. He won it. I'll bust him on recruiting, but that's about it other than Foxhall and his stupid injury policy. That's why I give him a couple years and no big buyout. He can sink or swim with that recruiting.. Next year is total rebuild too.

[Todd4State]

It's like our fanbase forgot about the worst two years in our history with Lemonis in charge, it's crazy.

Just like they also forgot about two Omaha trips and a NC. I agree- it is crazy.

[Todd4State]

Tough spot.

Selmon has to do something with his contract after this season. But we need to be nimble enough to fire him if we lose Parker and/or miss the tournament next year.

It's "tough" right now because we don't know the true outcome of the season. All we know is that we are going to a regional. From there- do we go to a SR? Do we go to Omaha? Do we host a regional?

The only safe thing that we know is that he won't be fired. Nor should he be.

Other than that we have to see how it plays out.

[Todd4State]

You don't think hosting a regional is good? LOL
Some of you have this false reality in your heads about how insanely great MSU baseball has been. We have one title ever. He won it. I'll bust him on recruiting, but that's about it other than Foxhall and his stupid injury policy. That's why I give him a couple years and no big buyout. He can sink or swim with that recruiting.. Next year is total rebuild too.

Most of our issues are because of injuries- not recruiting. This team has a completely different season if Stone Simmons, Dohm, and Pico are healthy all year long. The offense is different with a healthy Highfill and if Kohler is 100%- we're just now seeing him reach his potential. We've also been without Cupp, Loftin, and Grant too.

[Cooterpoot]

Most of our issues are because of injuries- not recruiting. This team has a completely different season if Stone Simmons, Dohm, and Pico are healthy all year long. The offense is different with a healthy Highfill and if Kohler is 100%- we're just now seeing him reach his potential. We've also been without Cupp, Loftin, and Grant too.

Nah, we haven't recruited worth a shit and you'll see it next year in a massive way. Injuries hurt for sure, but recruiting is trash. We don't have many kids left from the last few classes either.

[BeardoMSU]

Nah, we haven't recruited worth a shit and you'll see it next year in a massive way. Injuries hurt for sure, but recruiting is trash. We don't have many kids left from the last few classes either.

Well this is ****ing ominous....

[Todd4State]

Nah, we haven't recruited worth a shit and you'll see it next year in a massive way. Injuries hurt for sure, but recruiting is trash. We don't have many kids left from the last few classes either.

I expect us to hit the portal pretty hard. I'll worry about 2025 if we completely swing and miss in the portal- and no I'm not talking about swinging and missing on whoever this portal season's Braden Montgomery is.

To be honest, I think that's just life in this era of college baseball.

I think if we can get Hardin back that would be nice. I like Nolan Stevens, Luke Dotson, and Bradley Loftin's potential. We should get Makhai Grant back as well. I'm optimistic that Parker can make Gavin Black and Siary better next plus we should get some decent JUCO pitchers plus whatever we can get out of the portal.

We might get Highfill back. I'm not sure if it's at catcher though. I'm sure we'll get a catcher out of the portal.

Our MIF looks strong with Cupp and Pulliam. And that's if Mershon goes pro. If Mershon comes back we can play Pulliam in the OF. Jackson McKenzie and Henry Allen are solid prospects but again I expect us to get corner INF/OF guys out of the portal as well. We get Chance back for the OF. Stevens should take one of the OF spots and we get Rives Reynolds back.

What I described is our worst case scenario and it really doesn't look that bad AS LONG as we do OK in the portal. I mean I went scorched earth on draft prospects and assumed we lost guys like Pico too. And we should have plenty of NIL money freed up losing our seniors and guys like Hines and Dakota. Not to mention we don't look like a dumpster fire anymore which probably helps.

[StateDawg44]

You don't think hosting a regional is good? LOL
Some of you have this false reality in your heads about how insanely great MSU baseball has been. We have one title ever. He won it. I'll bust him on recruiting, but that's about it other than Foxhall and his stupid injury policy. That's why I give him a couple years and no big buyout. He can sink or swim with that recruiting.. Next year is total rebuild too.

Not sure where I said that or even remotely hinted at that. Don?t twist my words.

But he definitely doesn?t deserve an extension for it. Maybe a pat on the back after the previous two years. Why make it harder to fire him next year when he tanks again though. In recruiting, the portal and on the field. I?m not saying we deserve the pick of the litter but he?s got a big overhaul ahead of him.

Some of you can?t grasp how we can still be fans and hope we do well but don?t believe in our head coach. Just like players who he tries to recruit from the portal that have snubbed their nose at him. The exact reason we are in this situation.

Yes injuries have created some problems but injuries happen every year so that?s not something new or unique to our team.

[Pancho]

StateDawg44 with a dose of truth serum about Lemo.

[civildawg]

Just like they also forgot about two Omaha trips and a NC. I agree- it is crazy.

Yeah and which ones have happened more recently? Also let's not act like multiple coaches have taken our program to Omaha recently.

[Brobi-wan]

Lemo will probably get fired next year. I hope I’m wrong, because if I’m right that means we suck again. I have watched almost every game this season. We are just a couple of arms away from being a top ten team. If somebody in the BP can figure it out in the next week or two that will be season changing. See scUM 2022 for reference.

I think the bone some people pick on here is that there’s a couple people who seem like they want Lemo gone more than they want the team to win. I grew up as a state fan. Grand parents went there, mom and dad went there, and I went there. So I know how frustrating it can be and I think that’s what most of us feel about baseball right now. It was the one sport we KNEW we were good at consistently. Not every year, but consistently.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Not sure where I said that or even remotely hinted at that. Don?t twist my words.

But he definitely doesn?t deserve an extension for it. Maybe a pat on the back after the previous two years. Why make it harder to fire him next year when he tanks again though. In recruiting, the portal and on the field. I?m not saying we deserve the pick of the litter but he?s got a big overhaul ahead of him.

Some of you can?t grasp how we can still be fans and hope we do well but don?t believe in our head coach. Just like players who he tries to recruit from the portal that have snubbed their nose at him. The exact reason we are in this situation.

Yes injuries have created some problems but injuries happen every year so that?s not something new or unique to our team.

You have to extend him to 3 years. If you don't it leaves one year on the contract and he can't recruit anyone with one year left on the contract. You may could get by extending it just a year but I imagine it'll be extended to 3 years.

[StateDawg44]

You have to extend him to 3 years. If you don't it leaves one year on the contract and he can't recruit anyone with one year left on the contract. You may could get by extending it just a year but I imagine it'll be extended to 3 years.

Eh... So we get some players and we suck again next year. Who is to say they don't transfer out regardless. With the portal now available and especially with no limit on transfers coming I don't think this means as much.

You think Lemonis' coaching is the main reason some of these players have chosen to come to play for us?

[StateDawg44]

Why is it that TN can lose almost their entire starting lineup back to back years but reload and are top 5 year after year since Vitello has arrived?

They essentially have zero history as a baseball program.

[Santiago]

I expect us to hit the portal pretty hard. I'll worry about 2025 if we completely swing and miss in the portal- and no I'm not talking about swinging and missing on whoever this portal season's Braden Montgomery is.

To be honest, I think that's just life in this era of college baseball.

I think if we can get Hardin back that would be nice. I like Nolan Stevens, Luke Dotson, and Bradley Loftin's potential. We should get Makhai Grant back as well. I'm optimistic that Parker can make Gavin Black and Siary better next plus we should get some decent JUCO pitchers plus whatever we can get out of the portal.

We might get Highfill back. I'm not sure if it's at catcher though. I'm sure we'll get a catcher out of the portal.

Our MIF looks strong with Cupp and Pulliam. And that's if Mershon goes pro. If Mershon comes back we can play Pulliam in the OF. Jackson McKenzie and Henry Allen are solid prospects but again I expect us to get corner INF/OF guys out of the portal as well. We get Chance back for the OF. Stevens should take one of the OF spots and we get Rives Reynolds back.

What I described is our worst case scenario and it really doesn't look that bad AS LONG as we do OK in the portal. I mean I went scorched earth on draft prospects and assumed we lost guys like Pico too. And we should have plenty of NIL money freed up losing our seniors and guys like Hines and Dakota. Not to mention we don't look like a dumpster fire anymore which probably helps.


I am about ready to change the phrase from "Swing and miss" to something about our base running such as "hopefully we try the portal and don't have runners on bases" ***

[Todd4State]

Why is it that TN can lose almost their entire starting lineup back to back years but reload and are top 5 year after year since Vitello has arrived?

They essentially have zero history as a baseball program.

Because of the transfer portal.

[Santiago]

Why is it that TN can lose almost their entire starting lineup back to back years but reload and are top 5 year after year since Vitello has arrived?

They essentially have zero history as a baseball program.

Agree, and TN lost Chase Burns on top of that to Wake.
When I see some saying here "who else lost their top pitcher in the SEC" , well TN did to the portal and are reloading.
Edit: Burns has already broken Wake's single season strikeout record.
Vitello must not have looked back at TN's last 25 years and explained to the fans not to expect too much.***

[Todd4State]

Eh... So we get some players and we suck again next year. Who is to say they don't transfer out regardless. With the portal now available and especially with no limit on transfers coming I don't think this means as much.

You think Lemonis' coaching is the main reason some of these players have chosen to come to play for us?

It's definitely part of it. Maybe the assistants moreso than Lemonis. Most of our guys have multiple SEC opportunities.

[GoDawgz]

This years team's bullpen doesn't have the quality depth it takes to make a run in a regional, super....
Mess up and lose 1st or 2nd game and they are in trouble.

[Todd4State]

Yeah and which ones have happened more recently? Also let's not act like multiple coaches have taken our program to Omaha recently.

Well the most recent is a good season. Which makes the case that I was right about Foxhall being the major problem.

[CaptainObvious]

Because of the transfer portal.

So zero baseball history for Tennessee vs State's Baseball history means Tennessee's coach is a better HS AND Portal recruiter then State's coach!

Your Honor, The State Rests!

[Todd4State]

Not sure where I said that or even remotely hinted at that. Don?t twist my words.

But he definitely doesn?t deserve an extension for it. Maybe a pat on the back after the previous two years. Why make it harder to fire him next year when he tanks again though. In recruiting, the portal and on the field. I?m not saying we deserve the pick of the litter but he?s got a big overhaul ahead of him.

Some of you can?t grasp how we can still be fans and hope we do well but don?t believe in our head coach. Just like players who he tries to recruit from the portal that have snubbed their nose at him. The exact reason we are in this situation.

Yes injuries have created some problems but injuries happen every year so that?s not something new or unique to our team.

We can extend him and not give him a ridiculous buyout. We're not run by Larry Templeton anymore.

Losing your ace, closer, starting catcher, opening day shortstop and having to deal with other key guys like Pico recovering is what I would consider a lot more than a typical team injury wise.

[StateDawg44]

It's definitely part of it. Maybe the assistants moreso than Lemonis. Most of our guys have multiple SEC opportunities.

The point is a good coach who knows what he is doing will evaluate where the needs are and will take advantage of the portal and fill the gaps and be back just as strong next year without batting an eye. Build depth and develop. Can you say he's done this?

Our fans are just hoping he can pull a miracle out of his ass next year. Meanwhile, other fanbases of the current top teams have full confidence that their coaches will make the right moves. Even if they lose half the pitching staff or majority of their offensive production.

We haven't had a 3rd basemen for 3 years now. Kohler is just now beginning to show a sign of a pulse. Certainly not enough to tip the cap to Lemonis yet.

We don't have a bit of depth on the bench that can pinch-hit. Next year our fans will say, "They need some time to adjust to SEC pitching". By that point, it's too late.

He hasn't proven that he can contend with a lot of teams now that basically everyone has opened their eyes and are fully invested.

It's not going to change until we make a change and make a solid hire.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Why is it that TN can lose almost their entire starting lineup back to back years but reload and are top 5 year after year since Vitello has arrived?

They essentially have zero history as a baseball program.

Because they're a cool program with a cool head coach. They don't market their programs as "blue collar" or "dirtbags" or some of the other dumbass stuff our fanbase wants all our players to be. Sometimes you need some assholes. We needed some of their bravado the last two years when we were getting our teeth kicked in.

[Coach34]

Why is it that TN can lose almost their entire starting lineup back to back years but reload and are top 5 year after year since Vitello has arrived?

They essentially have zero history as a baseball program.

They are spending cash and have more off field personnel doing evals than we do

[RockyDog]

Let's lower his buyout to $0 and hope someone hires him away.

We are underachieving in the SEC by 4-5 wins this year. The team has talent and heart, but we should be in line for a top 8 or higher national seed if not for his baffling decisions and inability to manage a bullpen. He's simply not getting everything out of this team that a good coach would, just like he didn't in 2022 or 2023. A good coach, one that we could afford to bring in, should be able to.

And, yes, I continue to predict we will make Omaha in spite of him. But he's holding us back from continuing our elite national standard we held from 2011 through 2021.

LOLOLOLOLOL You and Captain Obvious need to cuddle and comfort each other from where big bad Lemons touched you.

[BrunswickDawg]

Let's lower his buyout to $0 and hope someone hires him away.

We are underachieving in the SEC by 4-5 wins this year. The team has talent and heart, but we should be in line for a top 8 or higher national seed if not for his baffling decisions and inability to manage a bullpen. He's simply not getting everything out of this team that a good coach would, just like he didn't in 2022 or 2023. A good coach, one that we could afford to bring in, should be able to.

And, yes, I continue to predict we will make Omaha in spite of him. But he's holding us back from continuing our elite national standard we held from 2011 through 2021.

https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/54ed1930e4b0360a4990e146/1594658211596-U27P04GNYM2MZY1Y7K2J/IMG_0748.gif?format=2500w

[Coach34]

So zero baseball history for Tennessee vs State's Baseball history means Tennessee's coach is a better HS AND Portal recruiter then State's coach!

Your Honor, The State Rests!

It’s the era of NIL. Money matters way more than history

[Cooterpoot]

Not sure where I said that or even remotely hinted at that. Don?t twist my words.

But he definitely doesn?t deserve an extension for it. Maybe a pat on the back after the previous two years. Why make it harder to fire him next year when he tanks again though. In recruiting, the portal and on the field. I?m not saying we deserve the pick of the litter but he?s got a big overhaul ahead of him.

Some of you can?t grasp how we can still be fans and hope we do well but don?t believe in our head coach. Just like players who he tries to recruit from the portal that have snubbed their nose at him. The exact reason we are in this situation.

Yes injuries have created some problems but injuries happen every year so that?s not something new or unique to our team.

Go look at the number of times we've hosted the last 20 years. Then try to recruit with a coach with no damn contract and you won't get squat. I'm not for giving the man 4 years but he's got to be extended a couple years or you might as well fire him. Try firing a guy that just turned it around from last place to a host site and try selling that shit to a good new coach. I'm not a Lemonis fan, but that's where we are. Firing him last year was the better option and we pussed out.

[Cooterpoot]

Because they're a cool program with a cool head coach. They don't market their programs as "blue collar" or "dirtbags" or some of the other dumbass stuff our fanbase wants all our players to be. Sometimes you need some assholes. We needed some of their bravado the last two years when we were getting our teeth kicked in.

See, this is a good point. Our olds that think this is all State should ever be hold this entire university back with that mindset. They hurt NIL with that mindset. They'd rather slob on a coach who is mediocre than go for more. It's the difference between us and the rest of the SEC. Scared ass, conservative assed money don't make money- That's our olds. Let's give a gazillion dollars to the school and none to athletics. Angry, my days were better days, the world of athletics sucks, old man mentality.

[StateDawg44]

Because they're a cool program with a cool head coach.

Thanks for proving my point? Their fans aren't "marketing" anything other than arrogance. The school might be selling something else but that's a totally different issue with our marketing department. Their fans are just as cocky and arrogant as their baseball team and act like they've always been some powerhouse and invented the game. Out of the clear blue. And like you said. It's because they have a legit coach. And we are talking about extending our (uncool) coach.



They are spending cash and have more off field personnel doing evals than we do

Another problem.

We won't ever compete with their spending. So are we just a second-rate option at this point and aren't doing what we can to make sure we get the evaluations right or make up the difference some how? Is our athletic department to blame then?



Go look at the number of times we've hosted the last 20 years. Then try to recruit with a coach with no damn contract and you won't get squat. I'm not for giving the man 4 years but he's got to be extended a couple years or you might as well fire him. Try firing a guy that just turned it around from last place to a host site and try selling that shit to a good new coach. I'm not a Lemonis fan, but that's where we are. Firing him last year was the better option and we pussed out.

You mean like when we made it to Omaha with 4 different coaches? Try holding on to the guy who lost all momentum we had and will bury us again a year from now. Then sell that shit to the same recruits. I realize there will be ebb and flow with each new year and don't expect to be top 5 at all times. It's just clear as day that we aren't competing like we should be when it comes to the portal and having playing time to sell at a program that has proven it knows how to get to Omaha.

I don't expect to land the Skenes, or Montgomery lottery every year by any means. Although with the ties Montgomery had to MS and our program I do feel like that was a fairly big miss. Probably solely because we sucked the previous two years under Lemo. There are a ton of other players that we whiffed on that could've helped immensely. But we pull players that don't contribute one bit like Hoyle.

Your points are conflicting. You complain about recruiting and not doing what we need to take the next step. Yet say we need to extend the same person we are complaining about. I can concede another year (1) on a contract and the smallest buyout we can get him to sign. I just don't believe players are weighing that much of their decisions based on Lemonis' contract details. DVH, Schloss, Vitello, etc... I could see it contributing some. But you're giving too much credit to Lemonis with this IMO and those coaches don't have this problem.

ETA: If a player is waffling on whether or not a year contract extension is long enough then they probably aren't going to be an immediate impact or top contributor that would be gone to the draft the next year any ways.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Thanks for proving my point? Their fans aren't "marketing" anything other than arrogance. The school might be selling something else but that's a totally different issue with our marketing department. Their fans are just as cocky and arrogant as their baseball team and act like they've always been some powerhouse and invented the game. Out of the clear blue. And like you said. It's because they have a legit coach. And we are talking about extending our (uncool) coach.




Another problem.

We won't ever compete with their spending. So are we just a second-rate option at this point and aren't doing what we can to make sure we get the evaluations right or make up the difference some how? Is our athletic department to blame then?




You mean like when we made it to Omaha with 4 different coaches? Try holding on to the guy who lost all momentum we had and will bury us again a year from now. Then sell that shit to the same recruits. I realize there will be ebb and flow with each new year and don't expect to be top 5 at all times. It's just clear as day that we aren't competing like we should be when it comes to the portal and having playing time to sell at a program that has proven it knows how to get to Omaha.

I don't expect to land the Skenes, or Montgomery lottery every year by any means. Although with the ties Montgomery had to MS and our program I do feel like that was a fairly big miss. Probably solely because we sucked the previous two years under Lemo. There are a ton of other players that we whiffed on that could've helped immensely. But we pull players that don't contribute one bit like Hoyle.

Your points are conflicting. You complain about recruiting and not doing what we need to take the next step. Yet say we need to extend the same person we are complaining about. I can concede another year (1) on a contract and the smallest buyout we can get him to sign. I just don't believe players are weighing that much of their decisions based on Lemonis' contract details. DVH, Schloss, Vitello, etc... I could see it contributing some. But you're giving too much credit to Lemonis with this IMO and those coaches don't have this problem.

ETA: If a player is waffling on whether or not a year contract extension is long enough then they probably aren't going to be an immediate impact or top contributor that would be gone to the draft the next year any ways.

1. We changed coaches 4 times in 4 years out of necessity. It wasn't just because we wanted to. Our success during that is the exception. It's not the rule.

2. Montgomery was never going to come here. We all thought wrong on that one. And, our portal was pretty damn good this year. I'd venture to guess almost every SEC team would take Khal Stephen and I'm fairly certain he would be the Friday night guy on every team not named Arkansas. I know there's a team in Baton Rouge that wishes they would've gone after him instead of Holman. On Hoyle, we spent no NIL money and he was a walk on. He was carried for pinch running. We did it as a favor to the Mangum's.

3. On the contract stuff, the kids may not care but the parents do. Baseball is not football or basketball where there's a bunch of transfers. These parents want to know who's going to be the ones around their kid 24/7. If Lemonis can't sell that he will be here our recruiting will get worse than you currently think it is. Also, it's obviously not too bad outside of pitching.

Look at the end of the day, you can hate Lemonis, which you do, all you want. But we aren't firing him and he's going to get extended at least 2 years.

[Johnson85]

Go look at the number of times we've hosted the last 20 years. Then try to recruit with a coach with no damn contract and you won't get squat. I'm not for giving the man 4 years but he's got to be extended a couple years or you might as well fire him. Try firing a guy that just turned it around from last place to a host site and try selling that shit to a good new coach. I'm not a Lemonis fan, but that's where we are. Firing him last year was the better option and we pussed out.

We should at least try to extend him to four on paper. If he wants to reject a 4 or even 3 year extension because the buyout is too low after the first year or two, then that's his prerogative, but we should at least try for it. Even if the contract is basically worthless after a year or two because the buyout is nominal, it's better for the coach and the school for it to be in place.

[StateDawg44]

1. We changed coaches 4 times in 4 years out of necessity. It wasn't just because we wanted to. Our success during that is the exception. It's not the rule.

2. Montgomery was never going to come here. We all thought wrong on that one. And, our portal was pretty damn good this year. I'd venture to guess almost every SEC team would take Khal Stephen and I'm fairly certain he would be the Friday night guy on every team not named Arkansas. I know there's a team in Baton Rouge that wishes they would've gone after him instead of Holman. On Hoyle, we spent no NIL money and he was a walk on. He was carried for pinch running. We did it as a favor to the Mangum's.

3. On the contract stuff, the kids may not care but the parents do. Baseball is not football or basketball where there's a bunch of transfers. These parents want to know who's going to be the ones around their kid 24/7. If Lemonis can't sell that he will be here our recruiting will get worse than you currently think it is. Also, it's obviously not too bad outside of pitching.

Look at the end of the day, you can hate Lemonis, which you do, all you want. But we aren't firing him and he's going to get extended at least 2 years.

Hate isn't the word. Just don't have confidence he is capable of taking our program and making that next step. I hope he proves me wrong.

I'll gladly eat crow if it's served to me next year.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Hate isn't the word. Just don't have confidence he is capable of taking our program and making that next step. I hope he proves me wrong.

I'll gladly eat crow if it's served to me next year.

And that's fair. I myself still am in wait and see mode, but I also think Lemonis gets shit on for stuff but not applauded when he does something good. There's gotta be a balance. It's ok to say you're not happy, but some are acting like we're the same team that we've been the past two years. That's not based in reality. If we sweep Mizzou, and that's a big 17 IF, we would 18 conference games. That's a damn 9 game CONFERENCE turnaround and the toughest conference in college baseball. That's impressive.

[Cooterpoot]

Thanks for proving my point? Their fans aren't "marketing" anything other than arrogance. The school might be selling something else but that's a totally different issue with our marketing department. Their fans are just as cocky and arrogant as their baseball team and act like they've always been some powerhouse and invented the game. Out of the clear blue. And like you said. It's because they have a legit coach. And we are talking about extending our (uncool) coach.




Another problem.

We won't ever compete with their spending. So are we just a second-rate option at this point and aren't doing what we can to make sure we get the evaluations right or make up the difference some how? Is our athletic department to blame then?




You mean like when we made it to Omaha with 4 different coaches? Try holding on to the guy who lost all momentum we had and will bury us again a year from now. Then sell that shit to the same recruits. I realize there will be ebb and flow with each new year and don't expect to be top 5 at all times. It's just clear as day that we aren't competing like we should be when it comes to the portal and having playing time to sell at a program that has proven it knows how to get to Omaha.

I don't expect to land the Skenes, or Montgomery lottery every year by any means. Although with the ties Montgomery had to MS and our program I do feel like that was a fairly big miss. Probably solely because we sucked the previous two years under Lemo. There are a ton of other players that we whiffed on that could've helped immensely. But we pull players that don't contribute one bit like Hoyle.

Your points are conflicting. You complain about recruiting and not doing what we need to take the next step. Yet say we need to extend the same person we are complaining about. I can concede another year (1) on a contract and the smallest buyout we can get him to sign. I just don't believe players are weighing that much of their decisions based on Lemonis' contract details. DVH, Schloss, Vitello, etc... I could see it contributing some. But you're giving too much credit to Lemonis with this IMO and those coaches don't have this problem.

ETA: If a player is waffling on whether or not a year contract extension is long enough then they probably aren't going to be an immediate impact or top contributor that would be gone to the draft the next year any ways.

How many recruits have we lost from our class this time? One? We aren't losing kids, we suck at identifying talent. We'll try to rebuild with the portal but we haven't signed a single big timer in the portal so far. Recruiting hasn't been good like I said. But beyond that, there's no complaint beyond hanging on to Foxy and some minor stupidity. I wanted a new coach last year. Let the money guys I mentioned suffer through it the next couple years. Lemonis isn't getting fired. He gives those guys what they want and they keep him. We missed our chance last year. No kid is signing up to play for a coach one year. Lemonis has one year left on his contract. You extend him two years without and increase in buyout and if he doesn't like it, let him walk.

[Cooterpoot]

We should at least try to extend him to four on paper. If he wants to reject a 4 or even 3 year extension because the buyout is too low after the first year or two, then that's his prerogative, but we should at least try for it. Even if the contract is basically worthless after a year or two because the buyout is nominal, it's better for the coach and the school for it to be in place.

Meh, with the portal, 4 years or three years doesn't matter anymore.

[Pancho]

I kinda see both sides but I think he was handed the keys to a jet and has turned it into a twin engine cessna

[Brobi-wan]

In the NIL era would State be able to have Bednar and Sims on the same team?

[Coach34]

In the NIL era would State be able to have Bednar and Sims on the same team?

This gets overlooked way too much. During our best run in the school history culminating with a title- NIL wasnt a factor. Lemon is the only coach of ours that has had to deal with it. We are seeing its impact now with State falling, then Mississippi, and now LSU after winning a title. Look at Candy falling back after the run they had- they are about to have a losing record in the SEC this year. After playing us for the Natty- they havent made it out of a Regional and are struggling.

Bottom line- Lemon responded this season like he had to. Let's finish this one strong hopefully and get ready for 2025.

[Coach34]

How many recruits have we lost from our class this time? One? We aren't losing kids, we suck at identifying talent. We'll try to rebuild with the portal but we haven't signed a single big timer in the portal so far. Recruiting hasn't been good like I said. .

We pulled Ledbetter who ended in the 1st round. We have pulled other quality portal guys.

We arent going to pull the sexy, big name guy now that NIL is here. That ship has sailed.

[Cooterpoot]

We pulled Ledbetter who ended in the 1st round. We have pulled other quality portal guys.

We arent going to pull the sexy, big name guy now that NIL is here. That ship has sailed.

But we could. We tried Montgomery and Skenes. Had we not sucked, who knows. We can't stay in rebuild mode because that hurts the portal options. Big timers want to win.

[StarkVegasSteve]

But we could. We tried Montgomery and Skenes. Had we not sucked, who knows. We can't stay in rebuild mode because that hurts the portal options. Big timers want to win.

Montgomery you could make the argument for that had we not sucked he would've come. Skenes was going to LSU. Wes Johnson sold him a vision. The good news is that now, with Parker, I think we have a little more to sell when you look at the success of Stephen this year and then the growth of guys like Davis and Harden.

[Brobi-wan]

This gets overlooked way too much. During our best run in the school history culminating with a title- NIL wasnt a factor. Lemon is the only coach of ours that has had to deal with it. We are seeing its impact now with State falling, then Mississippi, and now LSU after winning a title. Look at Candy falling back after the run they had- they are about to have a losing record in the SEC this year. After playing us for the Natty- they havent made it out of a Regional and are struggling.

Bottom line- Lemon responded this season like he had to. Let's finish this one strong hopefully and get ready for 2025.

And let’s not forget McCleod was a real SEC ace too. Until the end of the year anyway. There was a lot of quality talent on that team. I’m not sure you could’ve scraped enough money together to keep the pitchers AND Tanner Allen, Rowdey Jordan, and Logan Tanner

[RockyDog]

We pulled Ledbetter who ended in the 1st round. We have pulled other quality portal guys.

We arent going to pull the sexy, big name guy now that NIL is here. That ship has sailed.

We have a segment of fans that overinflate MSU baseball history to fit their agenda and then try and crap on teams like SC, Vandy, Tennessee, Arkanasas and Florida because they supposedly don't have history like MSU. It's comical.

Here's a fun fact. Kevin O Sullivan has had five 50 win seasons in his career. Mississippi State baseball has 6 in it's history. Christopher Lemons owns TWO of those.

[StarkVegasSteve]

We have a segment of fans that overinflate MSU baseball history to fit their agenda and then try and crap on teams like SC, Vandy, Tennessee, Arkanasas and Florida because they supposedly don't have history like MSU. It's comical.

Here's a fun fact. Kevin O Sullivan has had five 50 win seasons in his career. Mississippi State baseball has 6 in it's history. Christopher Lemons owns TWO of those.

It's also the fact that for the most part, we sucked at everything in the 70s and 80s and were pretty good at baseball so some fans grew attached to it. A lot of fans became fans with Will and Raffy and so they expected that type of success all the time. It's no different than the people that became football fans when Mullen had us rolling. They expected that type of success all the time. We are seeing the same thing with people now. We had nonstandard success for an extended period of time and so that becomes the expectation instead of the exception. Look, we're a top 15 program. I'm not saying we should just be happy with making a regional. Omaha should be the goal. But you can't run to fire the coach every time you don't make it. It's ok to say the last 2 years were unacceptable, because they were, but also admit that Lemonis has guided this ballclub extremely well this year with everything that has happened.

[Cooterpoot]

Montgomery you could make the argument for that had we not sucked he would've come. Skenes was going to LSU. Wes Johnson sold him a vision. The good news is that now, with Parker, I think we have a little more to sell when you look at the success of Stephen this year and then the growth of guys like Davis and Harden.

If we hadn't ditched it after 21 and was still rolling along in post season play, who knows? Imagine if we had continued the success we had before the Lemonis recruiting caught up to us. Or without Sims getting hurt. Lemonis has to prove he can recruit at a high level. Nothing shows he can do that.

[Coach34]

But we could. We tried Montgomery and Skenes. Had we not sucked, who knows. We can't stay in rebuild mode because that hurts the portal options. Big timers want to win.

No- we cant. The big sexy hotshot portal player that is going to command big money isnt going to go to StarkVegas when he can party and spend his money in a much more fun place. These guys are 20-21 years old. We will not get anybody thats a flash kind of guy and your top portal guys are that guy

side note- Montgomery didnt want to come back to Mississippi. End of story. We got excited because his parents started the whole thing. He wanted no part of it

[Coach34]

and to take it a step further- NIL has just made it legal to do what they have done in football and basketball for decades. The difference is now that it is in baseball too now.

We dont get the flashy showboat in football or basketball and havent for a generation. Well-here it is in baseball now coming about

[BeardoMSU]

We have a segment of fans that overinflate MSU baseball history to fit their agenda and then try and crap on teams like SC, Vandy, Tennessee, Arkanasas and Florida because they supposedly don't have history like MSU. It's comical.

Here's a fun fact. Kevin O Sullivan has had five 50 win seasons in his career. Mississippi State baseball has 6 in it's history. Christopher Lemons owns TWO of those.

F'n aye.

[Cooterpoot]

No- we cant. The big sexy hotshot portal player that is going to command big money isnt going to go to StarkVegas when he can party and spend his money in a much more fun place. These guys are 20-21 years old. We will not get anybody thats a flash kind of guy and your top portal guys are that guy

side note- Montgomery didnt want to come back to Mississippi. End of story. We got excited because his parents started the whole thing. He wanted no part of it

We had as good a money offer for Montgomery as A&M. He simply had a coach close to A&M and family not far. We couldn't match LSU for Skenes but he wasn't coming if we did. Neither were losses because of NIL. Those guys went for coaches more than money. Skenes gave half of his away.
There guys like the TN pitcher who took bids & tried to run up his money. We won't fool with many of those.

[CaptainObvious]

I am happy for the success this years team has had so far. And Lemonis deserves credit for that. And he deserves blame for what happened yesterday, at Florida, at Ole Miss, against Austin Peay(twice) and against Air Force. State loses a game to a team like South Alabama every year, so that one, I can let slide. But those collapses and just flat getting out played by Austin Peay are similar to last year. And I ain't in the forgiving mood for 2022-23 seasons.

Let's win the next 4 and lock up a Regional and win 1 or 2 in Hoover, and I'll definitely be crediting Lemonis for a really good turnaround. Can he do it in back to back years? He better!

[Todd4State]

With Foxhall gone and Parker being legit plus the program not looking like the wheels could fall off at any minute I have to believe that the odds of us landing a big fish out of the portal is more likely. Big fish = Skenes, Montgomery- although you could argue that keeping Dakota was like getting a big fish in some ways.

College baseball is changing and is going to change in a big way very soon. I'm very confident that 11.7 is about to go away for good very soon. The only question is going to be roster size because however large the roster is set is how many scholarships each team in the SEC is going to have. And we already have a pretty large baseball NIL war chest plus the fact that only a small amount of schools care about baseball means we have a chance to build championship teams in the very near future. And without having to supplement our player's scholarships with NIL our NIL is just going to go that much further. We're not going to have to tell a guy that is a junior drafted in the 14th round that they have to walk-on anymore and we can actually probably match whatever bonus that type of player might get in pro baseball. Essentially allowing that type of player to make more money in the long run even if they forfeit their draft leverage. Something like that could have allowed us to keep a guy like a Houston Harding for another year potentially.

So for the first time we're looking at an era where things that are MSU's strengths- fan support, facilities, and focus on the sport of baseball- will actually play up really well for us in the future. Unlike the 1990's when LSU had TOPs and steroids and 2010's when Vanderbilt had their "hardship" scholarships.

To me, all Lemonis has to do going forward is make some minor tweaks. Which in my opinion is an offensive analyst that can implement a Campbell University offensive approach with Gautreau used more for trouble shooting- which is really what Cann hired him to do in the first place. I think that will allow us to get off to a better start and avoid some of the early season mid major losses to Austin Peay. More importantly I'm hoping it will help with baserunning which has been a huge issue this year and probably cost us at least a few games.

[PGHBulldogBG]

It’s just crazy to me that people still want Lemonis fired. He has done a good job this year and we are pretty much guaranteed to make a regional and possibly even host. I understand being hesitant about him before the season after 2 really bad years, but he also had 2 really great years. We have a winning record in the SEC and we were picked last in the west alongside Ole Miss. I will admit I don’t know baseball the way I do football and basketball but it just seems strange

[Todd4State]

It’s just crazy to me that people still want Lemonis fired. He has done a good job this year and we are pretty much guaranteed to make a regional and possibly even host. I understand being hesitant about him before the season after 2 really bad years, but he also had 2 really great years. We have a winning record in the SEC and we were picked last in the west alongside Ole Miss. I will admit I don’t know baseball the way I do football and basketball but it just seems strange

People like to be "right".

[Coach34]

We had as good a money offer for Montgomery as A&M. He simply had a coach close to A&M and family not far. We couldn't match LSU for Skenes but he wasn't coming if we did. Neither were losses because of NIL. Those guys went for coaches more than money. Skenes gave half of his away.
There guys like the TN pitcher who took bids & tried to run up his money. We won't fool with many of those.

keep telling yourself that as we continue to not sign the big flashy portal transfers year after year in the coming future

[Commercecomet24]

It’s just crazy to me that people still want Lemonis fired. He has done a good job this year and we are pretty much guaranteed to make a regional and possibly even host. I understand being hesitant about him before the season after 2 really bad years, but he also had 2 really great years. We have a winning record in the SEC and we were picked last in the west alongside Ole Miss. I will admit I don’t know baseball the way I do football and basketball but it just seems strange

So many people on here said we'd be lucky to win 9 sec games again this year and that we would suck again. Now that we haven't sucked this year they have to move the bar to next year and say we'll suck next year. You're right it's strange among other things.

[StarkVegasSteve]

keep telling yourself that as we continue to not sign the big flashy portal transfers year after year in the coming future

Baseball is a bit different than football. Money is not THE ONLY factor. For Montgomery, our offer was better, but he didn't want to play in MS. For Skenes, our offer was comparable to LSU, but he wanted to play for Johnson. Parker gives us the chance to get a high level pitcher or two out of the portal. I mean we're at least getting visits. We can't even get that in the other sports. Our problem the last two years has been the perception that our program was down, we won't have that perception this offseason so it will be interesting to see what happens. I'm not predicting we'll get the top portal guy, but we at least have more to sell this time around.

[Cooterpoot]

It’s just crazy to me that people still want Lemonis fired. He has done a good job this year and we are pretty much guaranteed to make a regional and possibly even host. I understand being hesitant about him before the season after 2 really bad years, but he also had 2 really great years. We have a winning record in the SEC and we were picked last in the west alongside Ole Miss. I will admit I don’t know baseball the way I do football and basketball but it just seems strange

It's fine to not like some things, but we've passed the point of firing now. People need to shut up and move on about firing the man. We just need a State friendly contract, but if he takes us to a super, you can forget that too.

[Brobi-wan]

Starkville is a great place. It’s unique, it’s a good town, and it’s somewhere you can take your family to and feel safe and enjoy the weekend watching sports. It just doesn’t compare to some of the other schools. Our marketing team is also a$$. Instead of leaning into cool things about the university, like helping put men on the moon, we lean into the cow college. Meanwhile, scUM gets ranked as one of the biggest party schools around and just rolls with it. I don’t think our school admin wants MSU to be seen as a fun place to be, but if we’re being honest, we aren’t taken seriously as place to get your education either. I don’t even think Stark has a bowling alley. It’s going to be hard to get a kid from a major metro area to consider living there for 4 years. That’s more than 20% of the kid’s current life. Most of us at that age couldn’t see past the next test, forget 4 years.

Half the frats are full of good Ol’ country boys too. It’s a unique thing and I am not saying that should change. MSU is just a different type of place than probably any other college in the SEC. Even Vandy has Nashville. Starkville just needs something extra. The pieces are there, but it needs something more than cowbells to stand out.

[Cooterpoot]

Starkville is a great place. It?s unique, it?s a good town, and it?s somewhere you can take your family to and feel safe and enjoy the weekend watching sports. It just doesn?t compare to some of the other schools. Our marketing team is also a$$. Instead of leaning into cool things about the university, like helping put men on the moon, we lean into the cow college. Meanwhile, scUM gets ranked as one of the biggest party schools around and just rolls with it. I don?t think our school admin wants MSU to be seen as a fun place to be, but if we?re being honest, we aren?t taken seriously as place to get your education either. I don?t even think Stark has a bowling alley. It?s going to be hard to get a kid from a major metro area to consider living there for 4 years. That?s more than 20% of the kid?s current life. Most of us at that age couldn?t see past the next test, forget 4 years.

Half the frats are full of good Ol? country boys too. It?s a unique thing and I am not saying that should change. MSU is just a different type of place than probably any other college in the SEC. Even Vandy has Nashville. Starkville just needs something extra. The pieces are there, but it needs something more than cowbells to stand out.

The only real knock on Starkville and State is it's not a metro area with a ton of national retailers and things to do. You have kids that prefer that and you have kids that prefer the college town experience like Starkville. Starkville is booming a bit, it's a lot like Hattiesburg back in the 90s right now. Just need to keep growing it.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Starkville is a great place. It’s unique, it’s a good town, and it’s somewhere you can take your family to and feel safe and enjoy the weekend watching sports. It just doesn’t compare to some of the other schools. Our marketing team is also a$$. Instead of leaning into cool things about the university, like helping put men on the moon, we lean into the cow college. Meanwhile, scUM gets ranked as one of the biggest party schools around and just rolls with it. I don’t think our school admin wants MSU to be seen as a fun place to be, but if we’re being honest, we aren’t taken seriously as place to get your education either. I don’t even think Stark has a bowling alley. It’s going to be hard to get a kid from a major metro area to consider living there for 4 years. That’s more than 20% of the kid’s current life. Most of us at that age couldn’t see past the next test, forget 4 years.

Half the frats are full of good Ol’ country boys too. It’s a unique thing and I am not saying that should change. MSU is just a different type of place than probably any other college in the SEC. Even Vandy has Nashville. Starkville just needs something extra. The pieces are there, but it needs something more than cowbells to stand out.

It all comes down to branding and buy in. Ole Miss has branded themselves as a cool university and Oxford has branded itself as a cool town and their fans spout that info off ad nauseum . Oxford and Starkville have almost identical demographics, but because their fans drink the kool aid and spread the propaganda the rest of the country believes it. Starkville and Mississippi State have fought buying in to being a cool place to be for the better part of 30 years and are just now turning the tide in the other direction. Thanks in large part to Parker Wiseman, Lynn Spruill, and Mark Keenum.

The other big thing that Mississippi State needs to do is start recruiting out of state students at a much heavier clip. We need to get established in Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Charlotte, Birmingham, and Nashville. Our academic recruiting focuses more on the MS Delta than big metropolitan cities in the South. That HAS to change. Our fans have bagged on OM for the longest time for having all these out of state students but guess where a lot of their money comes from....THOSE SAME OUT OF STATE STUDENTS. It's time to tap into that. Also, our alumni dept needs to get off their ass and start trying to get the young alumni involved. I know people that graduated between 2015-2019 who HAVE YET to come back to campus since they graduated. OM makes a big deal about getting their alumni back to campus at least once in the fall and once in the spring. Our alumni dept instead focuses on Bob from Bogue Chitto and Gary from Grenada.

[Commercecomet24]

It's fine to not like some things, but we've passed the point of firing now. People need to shut up and move on about firing the man. We just need a State friendly contract, but if he takes us to a super, you can forget that too.

This.

[BrunswickDawg]

The only real knock on Starkville and State is it's not a metro area with a ton of national retailers and things to do. You have kids that prefer that and you have kids that prefer the college town experience like Starkville. Starkville is booming a bit, it's a lot like Hattiesburg back in the 90s right now. Just need to keep growing it.

Starkville has it's pluses and minuses. The plus is that it has grown significantly since the early 1990s. We at least have bars and restaurants now so you don't have to drive to Mayhew or Columbus on Thursday nights.
But, it is still really small town. Having had a kid there the past few years, I don't think they lack a whole lot except some better entertainment. Something that the school used to do that has gone by the wayside was bring in a variety of relevant national musical acts during the year - and not just 1-2. I know in my time there in the early 90s we had Jesus Jones (while they had their 1 hit), Garth Brooks, Boys II Men, The Black Crowes, The Allman Brothers, Blues Traveler, Widespread Panic, Indigo Girls, Travis Tritt - and some others. I know tickets are more expensive now then in the 90s - but big bands sell and we seemed to have just stopped.

[Brobi-wan]

It all comes down to branding and buy in. Ole Miss has branded themselves as a cool university and Oxford has branded itself as a cool town and their fans spout that info off ad nauseum . Oxford and Starkville have almost identical demographics, but because their fans drink the kool aid and spread the propaganda the rest of the country believes it. Starkville and Mississippi State have fought buying in to being a cool place to be for the better part of 30 years and are just now turning the tide in the other direction. Thanks in large part to Parker Wiseman, Lynn Spruill, and Mark Keenum.

The other big thing that Mississippi State needs to do is start recruiting out of state students at a much heavier clip. We need to get established in Dallas, Houston, Atlanta, Charlotte, Birmingham, and Nashville. Our academic recruiting focuses more on the MS Delta than big metropolitan cities in the South. That HAS to change. Our fans have bagged on OM for the longest time for having all these out of state students but guess where a lot of their money comes from....THOSE SAME OUT OF STATE STUDENTS. It's time to tap into that. Also, our alumni dept needs to get off their ass and start trying to get the young alumni involved. I know people that graduated between 2015-2019 who HAVE YET to come back to campus since they graduated. OM makes a big deal about getting their alumni back to campus at least once in the fall and once in the spring. Our alumni dept instead focuses on Bob from Bogue Chitto and Gary from Grenada.

I graduated in 21 and I cannot get my friends to show up to anything. I have season football tickets on the 45. Can?t even get my friends to come tailgate. Blows.

[StarkVegasSteve]

I graduated in 21 and I cannot get my friends to show up to anything. I have season football tickets on the 45. Can?t even get my friends to come tailgate. Blows.

A lot of it is marketing. The athletic dept has done a crappy job of promoting athletics and making it worth while to be in Starkville for the weekend. Another problem is a lack of lodging. Starkville has I think 6 hotels, with one being a roach motel and only a few AirBNBs. Oxford has double that many as well as many AirBNB options. It's also the fact that their fanbase looks for reasons to come. Our fanbase, for whatever reason, looks for reasons not to come. I think that goes back to perception and marketing.

[Johnson85]

Meh, with the portal, 4 years or three years doesn't matter anymore.

I still think most high school recruits aren't going to a school with the expectation of transferring. If a coach is working off a two year contract, that pretty much says he's on the hot seat and likely won't be there for the kids whole career. Probably not going to move the needle a ton, but in close recruiting battles, it could be the difference and again, it basically costs neither side anything to do it. The only reason to not do it is if the coach turns down the extension to try to force a higher buyout.

[DawgFromOxford]

It’s just crazy to me that people still want Lemonis fired. He has done a good job this year and we are pretty much guaranteed to make a regional and possibly even host. I understand being hesitant about him before the season after 2 really bad years, but he also had 2 really great years. We have a winning record in the SEC and we were picked last in the west alongside Ole Miss. I will admit I don’t know baseball the way I do football and basketball but it just seems strange

C34 would probably classify me as a lemonhater, let it be known I don?t hate the man and am rooting for his success. I just don?t have a whole lot of confidence that he?s the best guy for job moving forward. I get he won?t be fired this year, and deservedly so as he?s done what?s been needed to retain his job but to me it feels like we are just kicking the can down the road. I hope I?m wrong and Lemonis takes us back to Omaha multiple times. I just see us as a team that?s going to under achieve more than over achieve while he?s in charge. I?d be more than happy for my opinion to be wrong.

I will say I don?t think he gets enough credit for his portal recruiting. Has he pulled an all American? No, but he has pulled pieces we?ve needed that have contributed greatly.

[BrunswickDawg]

C34 would probably classify me as a lemonhater, let it be known I don?t hate the man and am rooting for his success. I just don?t have a whole lot of confidence that he?s the best guy for job moving forward. I get he won?t be fired this year, and deservedly so as he?s done what?s been needed to retain his job but to me it feels like we are just kicking the can down the road. I hope I?m wrong and Lemonis takes us back to Omaha multiple times. I just see us as a team that?s going to under achieve more than over achieve while he?s in charge. I?d be more than happy for my opinion to be wrong.

I will say I don?t think he gets enough credit for his portal recruiting. Has he pulled an all American? No, but he has pulled pieces we?ve needed that have contributed greatly.

I think that a certain element of the fan base just won't be satisfied by anything. They rode Cohen's ass about trivial stuff constantly -bunting, cussing, overthinking, being too intense, personnel decisions, leaving pitchers in too long, not being Ron Polk, etc. etc.
When Cohen started winning to much for them, they turned on his assistants and didn't like them either (you even have C34 still calling Mingione a clown when his team has the best record in the SEC). It got worse in '14 and '15 when we "didn't capitalize on almost winning the CWS". Cohen should have seen the ball/bat changes coming, yada yada. They are happier tearing down the positive and accentuating the negative regardless of who is in charge.

Baseball is a sport that ebbs and flows. You can't strive for perfection in baseball. You can't run the same play over and over again and overcome your opponent by perfect execution and strength like in football. You can't have 1 player dominate a game like in basketball. You can have the best team money can buy and still finish last. The worst player on the worst team can sometimes effect the outcome more than the best player on the best team. Many people can not handle the chaos of baseball because the more you try to make it conform the more it resists.

[CaptainObvious]

I think that a certain element of the fan base just won't be satisfied by anything. They rode Cohen's ass about trivial stuff constantly -bunting, cussing, overthinking, being too intense, personnel decisions, leaving pitchers in too long, not being Ron Polk, etc. etc.
When Cohen started winning to much for them, they turned on his assistants and didn't like them either (you even have C34 still calling Mingione a clown when his team has the best record in the SEC). It got worse in '14 and '15 when we "didn't capitalize on almost winning the CWS". Cohen should have seen the ball/bat changes coming, yada yada. They are happier tearing down the positive and accentuating the negative regardless of who is in charge.

Baseball is a sport that ebbs and flows. You can't strive for perfection in baseball. You can't run the same play over and over again and overcome your opponent by perfect execution and strength like in football. You can't have 1 player dominate a game like in basketball. You can have the best team money can buy and still finish last. The worst player on the worst team can sometimes affect CAthe outcome more than the best player on the best team. Many people can not handle the chaos of baseball because the more you try to make it conform the more it resists.

You CAN have consistency in a program to the point of the ups being very successful and the downs being moderately successful though. State wins a NC and then falls completely off the grid? Even Coastal Carolina, who followed their NC up with a down year, they didn't completely disappear.

Even Ole Miss, who hasn't had a very good year in 24, is not going to miss Hoover 2 straight years. And getting in Hoover, who knows. They may win enough games to make a Regional. They took 2 from A&M. They could take 2 from LSU and win 3 in Hoover and end up a 3 seed somewhere. I'll flip that around. LSU could take 3 from Ole Miss, win a few in Hoover and they could be a 2 seed playing a boat load of freshmen!


Being down after a NC? Sure. Being dead last and next to last in back to back seasons after a NC. No. Shouldn't happen but it did to this HC.

Should have been fired last year!

But he wasn't. So now he will not be fired this year because he has indeed had a better year by a good bit. So he gets a 3 year extension and a raise and a bigger buyout. Congrats. He earned it.

[BrunswickDawg]

You CAN have consistency in a program to the point of the ups being very successful and the downs being moderately successful though. State wins a NC and then falls completely off the grid? Even Coastal Carolina, who followed their NC up with a down year, they didn't completely disappear.

Even Ole Miss, who hasn't had a very good year in 24, is not going to miss Hoover 2 straight years. And getting in Hoover, who knows. They may win enough games to make a Regional. They took 2 from A&M. They could take 2 from LSU and win 3 in Hoover and end up a 3 seed somewhere. I'll flip that around. LSU could take 3 from Ole Miss, win a few in Hoover and they could be a 2 seed playing a boat load of freshmen!


Being down after a NC? Sure. Being dead last and next to last in back to back seasons after a NC. No. Shouldn't happen but it did to this HC.

Should have been fired last year!

But he wasn't. So now he will not be fired this year because he has indeed had a better year by a good bit. So he gets a 3 year extension and a raise and a bigger buyout. Congrats. He earned it.

Every program is different. We didn't just win a NC and fall off the map - we had a sustained decade long run where we were a NC contender all but 1 season. None of those other 1 off teams went to 4 CWS in 8 years and 3 in a row (not counting COVID).
None of those other programs went thru 4 head coaches in 4 seasons (which regardless of what a lot of people think is a huge contributor to '22 and '23's downturn). After that run - where we had the entire university and fanbase giving every ounce of effort to get over the top - I was not shocked at all that we kind of wandered for a couple of seasons after all of that.

People need to get over '22 and '23. Lemonis has played his get out of jail free card. He likely will parlay that into passing go and getting his $200 this year. If next year we suck again, I'm sure you will let us know that every. single. day. you. were. RIGHT!!!

[StateDawg44]

I think that a certain element of the fan base just won't be satisfied by anything. They rode Cohen's ass about trivial stuff constantly -bunting, cussing, overthinking, being too intense, personnel decisions, leaving pitchers in too long, not being Ron Polk, etc. etc.
When Cohen started winning to much for them, they turned on his assistants and didn't like them either (you even have C34 still calling Mingione a clown when his team has the best record in the SEC). It got worse in '14 and '15 when we "didn't capitalize on almost winning the CWS". Cohen should have seen the ball/bat changes coming, yada yada. They are happier tearing down the positive and accentuating the negative regardless of who is in charge.

Baseball is a sport that ebbs and flows. You can't strive for perfection in baseball. You can't run the same play over and over again and overcome your opponent by perfect execution and strength like in football. You can't have 1 player dominate a game like in basketball. You can have the best team money can buy and still finish last. The worst player on the worst team can sometimes effect the outcome more than the best player on the best team. Many people can not handle the chaos of baseball because the more you try to make it conform the more it resists.

Consistency goes a long way. Ebbs and flows are different from peaks and valleys.

[Cooterpoot]

I still think most high school recruits aren't going to a school with the expectation of transferring. If a coach is working off a two year contract, that pretty much says he's on the hot seat and likely won't be there for the kids whole career. Probably not going to move the needle a ton, but in close recruiting battles, it could be the difference and again, it basically costs neither side anything to do it. The only reason to not do it is if the coach turns down the extension to try to force a higher buyout.

They all know they can leave if things don't work out for pretty much any reason. Easier if a coach leaves.
Lemonis isn't winning recruiting battles anyway, or we wouldn't be rebuilding.

[Coach34]

We've discussed this ad nauseum but we have too many people that just look at the end game and not causes.

Why did we suck in 22? We lost some really good players to graduation/draft to begin. You see that happen to SEC teams all the time. Then to add to that- we had crippling pitching injuries to key players. We werent overcoming that no matter who the coach was. I can easily forgive this season. Put yourself in Lemon's shoes with all the injuries and none of you would have done any better

23? This one caused his job to be on the line. Too many young pitchers having to eat innings for us- that never bods well for college teams. But that comes back to Lemon/Foxy not getting what was needed. Foxy was eliminated and Lemon told he better get things fixed.

24? Things got fixed. We're not perfect in any way but our pitching staff is good plus we play elite defense. Injuries this year have taken some toll but we have done a good job of overcoming them so far. If Dohm can give us something down the stretch that would be huge

25? Job still on the line with the conference getting tougher adding Texas and OU. Pitching could still be pretty good if Loftin and Grant get healthy. Ligon develops some more. Pico, Black, and some others- plus what we bring in. Cupp, Stevens, Trout, hopefully one more out of Dirtbag. Got some young guys that need to grow up plus a couple of portals added- we should be ok.

[CaptainObvious]

[QUOTE. If next year we suck again, I'm sure you will let us know that every. single. day. you. were. RIGHT!!![/QUOTE]

I promise you I will! And I do my best to keep my promises.

[Commercecomet24]

I think that a certain element of the fan base just won't be satisfied by anything. They rode Cohen's ass about trivial stuff constantly -bunting, cussing, overthinking, being too intense, personnel decisions, leaving pitchers in too long, not being Ron Polk, etc. etc.
When Cohen started winning to much for them, they turned on his assistants and didn't like them either (you even have C34 still calling Mingione a clown when his team has the best record in the SEC). It got worse in '14 and '15 when we "didn't capitalize on almost winning the CWS". Cohen should have seen the ball/bat changes coming, yada yada. They are happier tearing down the positive and accentuating the negative regardless of who is in charge.

Baseball is a sport that ebbs and flows. You can't strive for perfection in baseball. You can't run the same play over and over again and overcome your opponent by perfect execution and strength like in football. You can't have 1 player dominate a game like in basketball. You can have the best team money can buy and still finish last. The worst player on the worst team can sometimes effect the outcome more than the best player on the best team. Many people can not handle the chaos of baseball because the more you try to make it conform the more it resists.

Yep you nailed it, 100% accurate! Probably the best baseball post every on here.

[Commercecomet24]

Every program is different. We didn't just win a NC and fall off the map - we had a sustained decade long run where we were a NC contender all but 1 season. None of those other 1 off teams went to 4 CWS in 8 years and 3 in a row (not counting COVID).
None of those other programs went thru 4 head coaches in 4 seasons (which regardless of what a lot of people think is a huge contributor to '22 and '23's downturn). After that run - where we had the entire university and fanbase giving every ounce of effort to get over the top - I was not shocked at all that we kind of wandered for a couple of seasons after all of that.

People need to get over '22 and '23. Lemonis has played his get out of jail free card. He likely will parlay that into passing go and getting his $200 this year. If next year we suck again, I'm sure you will let us know that every. single. day. you. were. RIGHT!!!

You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to BrunswickDawg again.

[Brobi-wan]

I think a lot of people would be easier on Lemo if we were good at say….football again. Easier to dislike a guy who has been here longer and lost success. We miss the tourney next year will Elite Dawgs want to fire Jans? lol

[Commercecomet24]

I think a lot of people would be easier on Lemo if we were good at say….football again. Easier to dislike a guy who has been here longer and lost success. We miss the tourney next year will Elite Dawgs want to fire Jans? lol

You're probably more right than you realize, lol.

[StarkVegasSteve]

I think a lot of people would be easier on Lemo if we were good at say….football again. Easier to dislike a guy who has been here longer and lost success. We miss the tourney next year will Elite Dawgs want to fire Jans? lol

We had people wanting to fire him this year after back to back tourney appearances with one combined shooter in two years.

[Coach34]

Jan wont be at State long enough to get fired

[StarkVegasSteve]

Jan wont be at State long enough to get fired

Nope. I don't imagine he'll be around much longer than next March. He's very frustrated with a lot right now. Most of it stems from his hatred of how Cohen ran the athletic dept. We're still trying to fix things he screwed up. This is paraphrasing, but he was putting as much as he could into baseball while skimming the rest of the programs and telling them we had no money.

[Cooterpoot]

Every program is different. We didn't just win a NC and fall off the map - we had a sustained decade long run where we were a NC contender all but 1 season. None of those other 1 off teams went to 4 CWS in 8 years and 3 in a row (not counting COVID).
None of those other programs went thru 4 head coaches in 4 seasons (which regardless of what a lot of people think is a huge contributor to '22 and '23's downturn). After that run - where we had the entire university and fanbase giving every ounce of effort to get over the top - I was not shocked at all that we kind of wandered for a couple of seasons after all of that.

People need to get over '22 and '23. Lemonis has played his get out of jail free card. He likely will parlay that into passing go and getting his $200 this year. If next year we suck again, I'm sure you will let us know that every. single. day. you. were. RIGHT!!!

Lemonis is 5 years in and has lost the majority of the players he recruited here (poor recruiting). We have little talent next year. Those coaching changes didn't do that. The rest is on target.

[BrunswickDawg]

Lemonis is 5 years in and has lost the majority of the players he recruited here (poor recruiting). We have little talent next year. Those coaching changes didn't do that. The rest is on target.

When you have most of your commitments being made 3-4 years out, which also means you are scouting kids and building relationships 4-5 years out - yes it did impact '22 and '23. Not to mention that they were also impacted by COVID - which stopped real scouting for a year in '20. But, we really had something of a perfect storm that developed. Coaching turnover, COVID, and I think keeping a huge COVID roster in '21. Keeping 24 pitchers helped us win a title - but it retarded our player development noticeably. So even going into '22 we had little experience beyond Sims, Presto and Fristoe. Then the injuries started and it was game over. No doubt some of that is on Lemonis - which why we keep having this conversation.

And yeah, a lot of those kids are gone because they either weren't good or didn't work out. Cohen did the same thing after '14 and '15.

[Cooterpoot]

When you have most of your commitments being made 3-4 years out, which also means you are scouting kids and building relationships 4-5 years out - yes it did impact '22 and '23. Not to mention that they were also impacted by COVID - which stopped real scouting for a year in '20. But, we really had something of a perfect storm that developed. Coaching turnover, COVID, and I think keeping a huge COVID roster in '21. Keeping 24 pitchers helped us win a title - but it retarded our player development noticeably. So even going into '22 we had little experience beyond Sims, Presto and Fristoe. Then the injuries started and it was game over. No doubt some of that is on Lemonis - which why we keep having this conversation.

And yeah, a lot of those kids are gone because they either weren't good or didn't work out. Cohen did the same thing after '14 and '15.

That's not really the case anymore except instate. And if he can't fill a roster after winning a natty, when can he? He openly admitted they got lazy. That's 100% the problem outside a handful of injuries. But, we've passed the point for firing and now we need him to figure out recruiting.

[Commercecomet24]

We had people wanting to fire him this year after back to back tourney appearances with one combined shooter in two years.

We sure did, and it was idiotic.

[Turfdawg67]

Nope. I don't imagine he'll be around much longer than next March. He's very frustrated with a lot right now. Most of it stems from his hatred of how Cohen ran the athletic dept. We're still trying to fix things he screwed up. This is paraphrasing, but he was putting as much as he could into baseball while skimming the rest of the programs and telling them we had no money.

Cohen is gone, we are fixing things he did... yet he wants out and will be gone by next March? Sounds like it's deeper than Cohen.

[Quaoarsking]

Does anyone seriously disagree at this point? Didn't think so.