ED's poll on what to do with Cohen

[msstate7]

1. Keep Cohen and have no demands on him regarding staff
2. Keep Cohen only if staff changes are made
3. Fire Cohen
4. Not sure

[preachermatt83]

2

[preachermatt83]

I wanna knw whose voting for what. Lol

[msstate7]

2

You must be on mobile. For whatever reason, you can't click one of the choices on mobile and you don't see the results

[preachermatt83]

I'm on mobile but I see results fine, I was saying I want to see who chose what. Lol.

[ScrotieMcBoogerBalls]

I went with 2

[starkvegasdawg]

I went with #2 as well.

[sandwolf]

I went with #1, strictly because I don't believe in requiring a head coach to make staff changes.....I think that if you have to do that, then you have the wrong guy as head coach.

[bulldogcountry1]

#2

[msstate7]

After cooling off a day, I went with 2 also. I really hope Cohen gets this turned around bc he's one of our own.

[It_Could_Happen]

I was 3 earlier this week. I changed to 2.

[spudd21]

2, we need a true hitting coach

[maroonmania]

For those that are demanding staff changes, what do you want Strick to tell Cohen? "Yes, I'll keep you but here is what you have to change on your staff." This is what we got into with Stansbury trying to force changes that he wouldn't live with. I agree that Strick should talk through the problems with the staff and place expectations for what improvements need to be seen on the field for next year. But I've never been crazy about forcing specific changes on the HC if the HC doesn't see the change needs to be made himself. After all it is the HC's program for as long as you keep him around. Forcing a change is a recipe that can make for some bad results like we got at the end of Sherrill's tneure. I definitely want some changes to be made but I hope it comes because Cohen realizes that the status quo is not going to cut it if he is going to succeed here long term.

[shoeless joe]

If Cohen is the coach then any coaching change should be up to him. I personally would like to see some type of change made but I don't see the benefit of it coming from the AD. if Cohen thinks the current staff can turn it around then let him have at it. Of course, I'm also of the opinion that as long as next year is in any way better than this year Cohen will not be fired.

[msstate7]

If Cohen is the coach then any coaching change should be up to him. I personally would like to see some type of change made but I don't see the benefit of it coming from the AD. if Cohen thinks the current staff can turn it around then let him have at it. Of course, I'm also of the opinion that as long as next year is in any way better than this year Cohen will not be fired.

So if we get 12th place in sec and miss a regional again, you wouldn't fire Cohen? I think you're being WAY too lenient

[LC Dawg]

I've really never understood the concept of telling a coach he has to make staff changes. If I was an AD and I thought the staff that the head coach chose was the problem I would go ahead and fire the coach. Why would a coach accept being forced to make staff changes. If they win they will not get credit because it will be attributed to the changes and if they don't win they are fired. It seems at the most you are just prolonging the inevitable.
Are there many instances where a head coach was forced to make staff changes and it worked out long term for the coach and the school?

[confucius say]

1
3 would be my next option

[msstate7]

For the guys that wouldn't require staff changes... Would you require a bat change? Do you look at that as same as staff requirements?

[maroonmania]

So if we get 12th place in sec and miss a regional again, you wouldn't fire Cohen? I think you're being WAY too lenient

I think that was just his opinion but I don't think I would agree. I know Strick desparately wants Cohen to succeed, and Cohen is one of our own and had a good HC track record coming in, BUT, it would be very difficult for Cohen to survive if he misses NCAA regional play 2 years in a row this deep into his tenure. Especially when you consider Bianco at OM has never done that while being at the school in this State we have normally considered our little brother when it comes to baseball.

[maroonmania]

For the guys that wouldn't require staff changes... Would you require a bat change? Do you look at that as same as staff requirements?

I would be fine with Stricklin requiring that. And no, I don't consider that at the level of forcing personnel changes on the staff. I'm not sure why Stricklin or Cohen either one agreed to use unproven equipment in the first place. No other high profile program (even Adidas schools) have been willing to use those bats other than us.

[sandwolf]

For the guys that wouldn't require staff changes... Would you require a bat change? Do you look at that as same as staff requirements?

The only thing that I would require is results. The way I see it, if it gets to the point that the AD feels the need to tell the head coach what changes that he needs to make in order to be successful, then it is time to move on. In other words, the head coach should know far more than the AD.....if he doesn't, then he should be fired.

[shoeless joe]

So if we get 12th place in sec and miss a regional again, you wouldn't fire Cohen? I think you're being WAY too lenient

I said I don't think he will be fired. Not that I wouldn't support his firing.
In my mind there's not a certain level of success that he would have to attain next year to stay. If things improve then we continue to move forward.

Again, this is what I think WOULD happen. Not what I would do I I was AD.

[msstate7]

I said I don't think he will be fired. Not that I wouldn't support his firing.
In my mind there's not a certain level of success that he would have to attain next year to stay. If things improve then we continue to move forward.

Again, this is what I think WOULD happen. Not what I would do I I was AD.

Gotcha

[AROB44]

I went with 1. If you have to require a coach to make changes, you might as well fire him. Never will work otherwise.

[Coach34]

For the guys that wouldn't require staff changes... Would you require a bat change? Do you look at that as same as staff requirements?

Hell no- you hire a coach to do the job and lead your program. Scott Stricklin doesnt know shit about running a baseball program. Neither does Keenum. If you dont trust your coach to be competent enough to make those hires- you need a new coach

[ScrotieMcBoogerBalls]

I went with #1, strictly because I don't believe in requiring a head coach to make staff changes.....I think that if you have to do that, then you have the wrong guy as head coach.

That's a valid point. I didn't think about it like that. Didn't we try to do this with Croom?

[sandwolf]

That's a valid point. I didn't think about it like that. Didn't we try to do this with Croom?

Yea, it seems like I remember the rumor being that Byrne told Croom that he would have to replace McCorvey with a competent OC if he wanted to keep his job and Croom refused to do that. That could be completely wrong, but I do remember that rumor making the rounds.

[sandwolf]

Hell no- you hire a coach to do the job and lead your program. Scott Stricklin doesnt know shit about running a baseball program. Neither does Keenum. If you dont trust your coach to be competent enough to make those hires- you need a new coach

This is pretty much exactly how I see it.

[LC Dawg]

For the guys that wouldn't require staff changes... Would you require a bat change? Do you look at that as same as staff requirements?

If an AD starts requiring equipment changes I think that AD will have a hard time finding coaches in the future.
Again, if you don't think the coach is doing a good job fire him.
A salesman knows if he isn't making sales he will get fired and a coach knows if he isn't winning games he is getting fired. I don't think making ultimatums or requirements helps the situation. When the losing gets to a point that is not acceptable fire the coach and hire a new coach.

[shannondawg]

[QUOTE=Coach34;371608]Hell no

I agree with this 100%. If the coach himself can't see what needs to be done after a year like we had, don't need him.

[msstate7]

[QUOTE=Coach34;371608]Hell no

I agree with this 100%. If the coach himself can't see what needs to be done after a year like we had, don't need him.
I think Cohen should've seen the offense needs fixing way before this year. The offense has been very weak for 3 of the last 4 years. We collapsed this year bc our pitching couldn't hold teams to 2 or less. I really think Cohen is thinking that we just need to solidify the pitching and keep playing small ball.

[Smitty]

Looks like a vast minority have confidence in Cohen by himself. And the other poll is showing that if these demands aren't met that most folks would want him gone too.

60-40 against him if changes aren't made not exactly a vote of confidence from the fan base

[fader2103]

I'm leaning towards 2 but I won't be heartbroken if 3 happens. I just think Cohen has allowed to much to go on in the program that he has lost the respect of his players who are now running the asylum

[FlabLoser]

Anybody saying keep Cohen but change some staff is assuming they know what the problems were. That's awfully presumptive.

Either he is an empowered coach or he's unemployed. Let the man do his job or get rid of him.

I think he's earned one more year to fix this.

[Coach34]

[QUOTE=shannondawg;371628]
I think Cohen should've seen the offense needs fixing way before this year. The offense has been very weak for 3 of the last 4 years. We collapsed this year bc our pitching couldn't hold teams to 2 or less. I really think Cohen is thinking that we just need to solidify the pitching and keep playing small ball.

not really.

We were basically middle of the pack SEC on offense in 2014- http://assets.espn.go.com/SEC/media/2015/2014%20SEC%20Stats.pdf

2013- we were in the top half offensively

please show me where we have been so shitty on offense?

[Smitty]

This year and 2012 stand out in the offensive ineptitude. Just woefully miserable those years.

[I seen it dawg]

This is dumb

[Coach34]

This year and 2012 stand out in the offensive ineptitude. Just woefully miserable those years.

This year hasnt been that bad offensively- Pitching has been our downfall this year. You must have forgotten all the 8th inning meltdowns

http://assets.espn.go.com/sec/baseball/2015/lgconf.htm

[msstate7]

This year hasnt been that bad offensively- Pitching has been our downfall this year. You must have forgotten all the 8th inning meltdowns

http://assets.espn.go.com/sec/baseball/2015/lgconf.htm

So we were 10th in the sec in scoring runs. I didn't realize we were that good*

[Coach34]

So we were 10th in the sec in scoring runs. I didn't realize we were that good*

We're 2 runs from being 8th

7th in batting average

13th in ERA is the killa
13th in opponents BA is the killa
Tied for the 11th in batters struck out is a killa
13th in hits allowed in the killa

I think you get it now

[msstate7]

We're 2 runs from being 8th

7th in batting average

13th in ERA is the killa
13th in opponents BA is the killa
Tied for the 11th in batters struck out is a killa
13th in hits allowed in the killa

I think you get it now

I've actually said all year that hitting isn't the problem. Timely hitting and situational hitting were the problem on offense. I think a lot of that was our approach. When we got runners in scoring position it was like we were just looking to walk... Seems we were way too passive.

You're right though... Pitching was the biggest problem. When me, you, and Stevie wonder could see our bullpen was complete and utter garbage, why did Cohen continue to play for 1 run over-and-over again? It was almost like Cohen was just too proud to admit his small ball approach was crap and adjust accordingly. Then when the season was completely shot, Cohen stopped bunting

[Smitty]

We stopped bunting because our inning leadoff OBP was well below .300 and we were behind most of the time.

No leadoff man on base and losing equals drop in number of sac bunts

[War Machine Dawg]

We stopped bunting because our inning leadoff OBP was well below .300 and we were behind most of the time.

No leadoff man on base and losing equals drop in number of sac bunts

Let me be clear: I AM NOT saying pitching wasn't a major problem. It was. Bigger than the offense? Yes. However.....

This is a very fair point by Smitty. Just because he is the one to make it doesn't mean it's any less valid. When you're constantly starting the inning with 1 out, 0 runners, and trailing on the scoreboard there aren't a whole lot of opportunities for Cohen to call a sac bunt. So saying he "adjusted" when he had very limited opportunities is a little misleading. Once aGAIN, I'm not letting pitching off the hook. Just don't want this point being dismissed just because Smitty is the one making it.

Frankly, we sucked so bad at everything this season, it's not fair to say any single particular aspect was the reason we were losing. And allow me to make one more point: Many of us, myself included, have been screaming for a hitting coach. There are plenty here, Engine immediately comes to mind, who think Butch should be untouchable. But when I look at those pitching ranks and combine that with our failure to get productive years from pitchers prior to their Junior season, I think it's more than fair to conclude Butch should replaced too. I say Cohen gets this ONE opportunity to clean his house and he needs to completely nuke his staff. Can Butch, Mingione, the S&C guy, everyone. Bring in fresh blood all the way around or GTFO, so far as I'm concerned.