Lemonis...

[CadaverDawg]

You're on the clock next year. This shit is unacceptable. The Natty honeymoon is over. Shape up next year or ship out

[msstate7]

I don't see how he can turn it around next year. I just don't get how the more this becomes lemonis' team, the worse we're getting.

[Pancho]

monster class is required, full of hitters and SEC ready pitchers. quite a task to simply produce a .500 SEC team from where this one sits.

[CadaverDawg]

I don't see how he can turn it around next year. I just don't get how the more this becomes lemonis' team, the worse we're getting.

Well then he shouldn't have shit the bed with a good team this year. Now he must overachieve to correct it. This program isn't a "misses postseason" program

[Saltydog]

monster class is required, full of hitters and SEC ready pitchers. quite a task to simply produce a .500 SEC team from where this one sits.

Since Lemonis is now in shape and shit, he needs to get his ass out and hit the road starting the day after we lose to UT in the last game of the year. Pack your bags slim. You've got work to do. You've been feasting off the scraps from Cann but that excuse is over now. Get it done or get out.

[MafiaDawg]

Never thought I would have said this but you can not go into next season with the same players and same approach as this season. When things turn out to be a disaster like this, changes have to be made. And no I?m not talking about the coach, yet.

[Activated Alpha]

Baseball is a different beast. Lemonis will shoulder the blame for the abysmal season this year and he will if next year is just as bad. However, look at baseball coaches around the league. They have been there for a long time and are given time to work. He will be here a while, but he needs to go into the off season with the intent of pushing the coaches and players to their limits. No more inflated egos after this season. I want to see our players improve

[msstate7]

Baseball is a different beast. Lemonis will shoulder the blame for the abysmal season this year and he will if next year is just as bad. However, look at baseball coaches around the league. They have been there for a long time and are given time to work. He will be here a while, but he needs to go into the off season with the intent of pushing the coaches and players to their limits. No more inflated egos after this season. I want to see our players improve

Vitello won 50 in year 4, and he's doing even better in year 5. Can we at miss state not expect similar results or does our coach need 6 years to get the program to the level where he found it?

[Activated Alpha]

Vitello won 50 in year 4, and he's doing even better in year 5. Can we at miss state not expect similar results or does our coach need 6 years to get the program to the level where he found it?

I understand that, but how did he do in his first 2-3 years? I know Lemonis wasn?t coaching his recruits, but he still had this team in Omaha in the last few years. Hell I want to say Lemonis has been to Omaha more times then OM and S. Miss. Of course that could be the pool side margaritas talking

[msstate7]

I understand that, but how did he do in his first 2-3 years? I know Lemonis wasn?t coaching his recruits, but he still had this team in Omaha in the last few years. Hell I want to say Lemonis has been to Omaha more times then OM and S. Miss. Of course that could be the pool side margaritas talking

I have zero doubt that lemonis can coach a team. I have big doubts now that he can build a team. Vitello has proven he can build a winner, and he's doing in a time frame that we're saying isnt achievable for lemonis. Is Tenn that much more attractive to recruits that they can get them right away and we have to wait till 8th graders MAYBE make it college?

[StarkVegasSteve]

Well then he shouldn't have shit the bed with a good team this year. Now he must overachieve to correct it. This program isn't a "misses postseason" program

This thing is going to go one of two ways. This is either an Arkansas in 2016 type outlier or Lemonis is the baseball Gene Chizik. I hope it is the former and he rights the ship like DVH.

[AlSwearengen]

So, we are going to hire another new coach, making it our fifth in, what, seven years? Then we lose 3/4 of our commits and ya’ll are wondering why we suck when we can’t beat the rest of the league with left over recruits that we poached from usm, uab, and Memphis in an effort to fill out a roster.

Look at florida. O’Sullivan is supposed to be a whiz bang coach, recruits lights out every year and they have badly underperformed the last few years. It’s baseball and it is the SEC.

My biggest concern with our coaching staff right now is, did they genuinely think this team was going to be in the top half of the league, even without the injuries? Without injuries, I think we fight to get to 15-15 but do and make the tournament. We never should have been in the discussion for repeating anything.

Ya’ll chill out. Augie Garrido wasn’t winning with this situation.

[Ranchdawg]

IMO Foxhall and especially Gotro had better fix pitching and hitting. The approach and the swing at the plate has not been adjusted one damn bit since day one of the season. We are the same horrible hitting team that started the season. A coach should be able to tweak a batters swing ever so slightly to make better contact with the ball.

I?m angry at this team for their lack of attitude. They are a embarrassment to a lot of former players that wore the M over S. This series Florida shoved up our back hole and made us like it. That is unacceptable!

[MaroonFlounder]

Lemonis pulled all the right strings last year. And we had some luck along the way. And we had a few extreme Alphas that were ultra competitive and clutch performers.

This weekend we had 1st & 2nd with no outs 2 or 3 times and didn't score. Tanner Leggett hasn't played in 3 weeks and he has been perfect laying down bunts every time he has been asked to do so. Pinch hit him in those situations we win at least 1 this weekend. It's absolutely unfathomable if he didn't at least consider it.

[HoopsDawg]

I'm shocked about our hitting this year. We started 6 of our 9 guys that started the national championship.

We replaced dubrule with Yeager which is a pretty big upgrade.

We replaced Tanner Allen with Hunter Hines.

And we replaced Rowdey with Jess Davis who has played a ton of college baseball. Amazing the difference. Tanner Allen was unreal.

[Cooterpoot]

Y'all need to back away from the ledge. It's a bad year. Coach ain't going anywhere. Nobody is unless they get a HC job.

[Activated Alpha]

Now I will say this. I am pissed Lemonis did not get tossed last night in the 9th. That ump deserved to have a new ear hole

[HoopsDawg]

Y'all need to back away from the ledge. It's a bad year. Coach ain't going anywhere. Nobody is unless they get a HC job.

of course he's not going anywhere. Is anyone saying differently?

[Cowbell]

Vitello won 50 in year 4, and he's doing even better in year 5. Can we at miss state not expect similar results or does our coach need 6 years to get the program to the level where he found it?

Vitelli ain't won a natty

[Cowbell]

Lemonis pulled all the right strings last year. And we had some luck along the way. And we had a few extreme Alphas that were ultra competitive and clutch performers.

This weekend we had 1st & 2nd with no outs 2 or 3 times and didn't score. Tanner Leggett hasn't played in 3 weeks and he has been perfect laying down bunts every time he has been asked to do so. Pinch hit him in those situations we win at least 1 this weekend. It's absolutely unfathomable if he didn't at least consider it.
Remember he pinch hit for Leggett a couple of weeks ago with none other than VS... leggett is the most clutch hitter we have

[Todd4State]

I don't see how he can turn it around next year. I just don't get how the more this becomes lemonis' team, the worse we're getting.

Most of these players were recruited by Cannizarro. So, it's still not really his team. I'd say based on Will Bednar and Hunter Hines getting his recruits in may be a positive.


Never thought I would have said this but you can not go into next season with the same players and same approach as this season. When things turn out to be a disaster like this, changes have to be made. And no I?m not talking about the coach, yet.

You're exactly right. I think the root of the problem is our coaches are way too hands off. They just want to fill out a lineup card and let the boys play. Can't do that with college players unless you have enough that are advanced to handle it like we had last year with Sims, Tanner, and Rowdey.

Foxhall always has our starter go 6 IP come hell or high water and then the next go throws 2 IP no matter what and then no matter what we're bringing someone else out for the 9th. He has done an AWFUL job this year and I'm pissed off at him just thinking about some of the stupid shit I've seen. Leaving starters in too long. Letting pitchers who have been blown apart have multiple opportunities while others sit. Pitching the ****ing shortstop while Fristoe doesn't even pitch that week and Pico throws 13 pitches. Our pitchers mechanics are inconsistent- leading to walks and bombs. He doesn't have a good feel for the game at all. Rarely makes a mound visit even when guys are getting blown apart- just leaves them in to figure it out. That's not coaching. That's just half assed.

Gautreau is the same as just letting them do their own thing at the plate. We could hit 100 lazy fly balls and all he does is have them bump their chest twice like some magic genie is going to pop out of there. Same thing as Foxhall- he has to COACH the hitters instead of sitting on his ass and expecting them to do something. Use a line drive approach. Especially when guys are struggling. And then his recruiting screwed us because he kept getting power hitters and hasn't really gone after anyone that has a high OBP for the MIF/CF spots. Which hurts the offense further because we can't do any of the small ball stuff to manufacture runs.


Baseball is a different beast. Lemonis will shoulder the blame for the abysmal season this year and he will if next year is just as bad. However, look at baseball coaches around the league. They have been there for a long time and are given time to work. He will be here a while, but he needs to go into the off season with the intent of pushing the coaches and players to their limits. No more inflated egos after this season. I want to see our players improve

We're about to find out how much Lemonis really wants to win or if he has his head up his ass. I may be giving the benefit of the doubt but I think he wants to win.


Vitello won 50 in year 4, and he's doing even better in year 5. Can we at miss state not expect similar results or does our coach need 6 years to get the program to the level where he found it?

So far Lemonis has been more successful than Vitello in one less year. And yeah I get that we were a better situation. But Tennessee also didn't have to change four coaches in four years either. That hurts recruiting- and it's part of the problem right now too. Probably moreso next year.


IMO Foxhall and especially Gotro had better fix pitching and hitting. The approach and the swing at the plate has not been adjusted one damn bit since day one of the season. We are the same horrible hitting team that started the season. A coach should be able to tweak a batters swing ever so slightly to make better contact with the ball.

I?m angry at this team for their lack of attitude. They are a embarrassment to a lot of former players that wore the M over S. This series Florida shoved up our back hole and made us like it. That is unacceptable!

You're right about the assistants but I don't fault the players as much when they aren't being coached.


This thing is going to go one of two ways. This is either an Arkansas in 2016 type outlier or Lemonis is the baseball Gene Chizik. I hope it is the former and he rights the ship like DVH.

Probably more Dave Van Horn.


Y'all need to back away from the ledge. It's a bad year. Coach ain't going anywhere. Nobody is unless they get a HC job.

Well I hope Lemonis tells Foxhall to put his resume' out then. If those two stay they better get off their ass and start coaching these players. And we need to redefine how we build our team. Lemonis isn't on the hot seat- I agree. But right now Foxhall and Gautreau will be. Our fans and our AD is not going to allow MSU baseball to be mediocre for long without making some kind of change. And those two will be gone before Lemonis.


Now I will say this. I am pissed Lemonis did not get tossed last night in the 9th. That ump deserved to have a new ear hole

I agree. Would be nice if Lemonis would have at least gotten ejected last night. It's a bad look that he didn't honestly. Our season is on the line and we're going to let the Ump Show dictate the outcome while we sit our ass on a bucket? Weak optics.

[Todd4State]

Remember he pinch hit for Leggett a couple of weeks ago with none other than VS... leggett is the most clutch hitter we have

Yeah that was dumb. But remember the reason why Leggett was in the lineup was because we had to save pitchers for Mizzou so we "had to" pitch our shortstop which took his bat and glove out of the lineup? And then we didn't even use two of our best relievers while we lost the series.

That was a textbook exhibit A example of why you manage the game in the present and don't worry about saving or holding pitchers back. If you run out of pitching you run out of pitching but you don't concede games to try to win others. Baseball is way too unpredictable to do that.

[Cooterpoot]

of course he's not going anywhere. Is anyone saying differently?

And his seat isn't even remotely warm, and we got people saying he's on the clock? LOL
Not one coach on that staff is on the hot seat.

[CadaverDawg]

Nobody is saying he should be fired NOW, so no need for the "step away from the ledge" and "chill out" posts. BUT, this is not a program that is accustomed to missing the postseason, so he needs to figure it out or his seat will heat up quick next year. In the day and age of the portal, there is no excuse for two bad years in a row with our stadium, atmosphere, fans, and coming off of a National Championship. No Excuse. So again, he's safe now, but he needs to right the ship in a big way next season.

And if we don't see a total youth movement to end the season, I will question if he's the man for the job long term. You have got to find out who can get it done, and you might as well start now. Zero reason not to.

[KOdawg1]

Y'all need to back away from the ledge. It's a bad year. Coach ain't going anywhere. Nobody is unless they get a HC job.

No one said any different

[Cooterpoot]

Polk missed postseason 9 times and Cohen 3 times. Let's not pretend we haven't missed some postseason here and there. Hell, Lemonis hasn't even missed a CWS until this year. Two full seasons, two CWS. Had a damn good team in the Covid year too. Only coach with a Natty. Y'all getting crazy. We aren't the AL of college baseball or something.
We'll bring in some people and see how it goes. We'll be young/inexperienced depth wise. We basically missed one year of recruiting due to the Canz crap putting behind. That year has to be corrected with good portal guys. Problem is, the baseball portal isn't the same as the football portal where AL can go get a good player from LSU. We won't go get a 5 star transfer that can just be our ace.

[KOdawg1]

I expect a good offseason in the portal. Or at least we better have one. We need legit hitters and pitchers. Because right now, we don't have any.

I'm of the opinion that we'll have addition by subtraction with some of our current guys moving on. Some of our "leaders" have good numbers and will always be legends for winning a national title last year, but they've completely dropped the ball as leaders this year.

And Cadaver is right. Lemonis has to play Aaron Downs, Slate Alford, and any younger guy with a pulse. There's no reason Luke Hancock and Kam James should be taking ABs away from someone who could help us next year.

[CadaverDawg]

Polk missed postseason 9 times and Cohen 3 times. Let's not pretend we haven't missed some postseason here and there. Hell, Lemonis hasn't even missed a CWS until this year. Two full seasons, two CWS. Had a damn good team in the Covid year too. Only coach with a Natty. Y'all getting crazy.

If you can't build momentum after a Natty, when can you? It's not crazy to think that a year after a Natty when we return 6 of 9 starters, we should make a Regional. Not crazy at all. The injuries hurt, for sure, but we sucked before them. All I'm saying is, if Lemonis can't hit the portal and recruiting trail and promise immediate playing time at THIS program where it is now...he may be Gene Chizik. I hope he's not, and I'm not saying he is...I'm just saying he better turn it around next year or many, including myself, will think he's unable to build a program and can only win with a roster of studs recruited by someone else.

With transfer portal and NIL, this isn't the Polk days where you just keep a coach forever and hope he has some great years mixed in amongst the shitty ones. That's a good way to find yourself wasting a National Championship and at the bottom of the league. Baseball is all we've got, let's face it....we can't afford to let it crumble bc we're still high off of a Title. I want Lemonis to feel some pressure so he will produce.

If he is worth his salt...he's pissed and will turn it around next year. That's what I'm hoping for, bc I actually like him.

[CadaverDawg]

I expect a good offseason in the portal. Or at least we better have one. We need legit hitters and pitchers. Because right now, we don't have any.

I'm of the opinion that we'll have addition by subtraction with some of our current guys moving on. Some of our "leaders" have good numbers and will always be legends for winning a national title last year, but they've completely dropped the ball as leaders this year.

And Cadaver is right. Lemonis has to play Aaron Downs, Slate Alford, and any younger guy with a pulse. There's no reason Luke Hancock and Kam James should be taking ABs away from someone who could help us next year.

I agree that I think we'll hit the portal hard, and that we Better.

[Homedawg]

Remember he pinch hit for Leggett a couple of weeks ago with none other than VS... leggett is the most clutch hitter we have

One hit makes him the most clutch ever? He can't hit. The same people that were begging for him to start over lane are crickets now.

[Homedawg]

Losing is frustrating. But this thread is full of stupid. And I'm being kind.

[msstate7]

I'd feel a lot better if the down year was bc we were playing a lot of promising young players. I don't see it though, and that should be worrisome to everyone whether they'll admit it or not

[Homedawg]

If you can't build momentum after a Natty, when can you? It's not crazy to think that a year after a Natty when we return 6 of 9 starters, we should make a Regional. Not crazy at all. The injuries hurt, for sure, but we sucked before them. All I'm saying is, if Lemonis can't hit the portal and recruiting trail and promise immediate playing time at THIS program where it is now...he may be Gene Chizik. I hope he's not, and I'm not saying he is...I'm just saying he better turn it around next year or many, including myself, will think he's unable to build a program and can only win with a roster of studs recruited by someone else.

With transfer portal and NIL, this isn't the Polk days where you just keep a coach forever and hope he has some great years mixed in amongst the shitty ones. That's a good way to find yourself wasting a National Championship and at the bottom of the league. Baseball is all we've got, let's face it....we can't afford to let it crumble bc we're still high off of a Title. I want Lemonis to feel some pressure so he will produce.

If he is worth his salt...he's pissed and will turn it around next year. That's what I'm hoping for, bc I actually like him.

Here's the problem. People have no clue obviously how baseball recruiting works. We did build momentum. Our 24/25 classes are insane.. that's off of the ship. We still have guys playing that committed to COHEN. Think about that. And for those that are comparing vitello, he walked into a dump which is tough to turn aroun. BUT, it allows you to punt the entire roster and start from scratch. Lem took us the series twice and missed a great opportunity for 3. Would y'all be happy if he didn't do that so he could get "his" guys?? Hell no. Just back away for a minute. We've Invented ways to lose. Lots is injuries and poor play to top. I'm not saying lem isn't open for criticism, but this is nuts.

[msstate7]

Here's the problem. People have no clue obviously how baseball recruiting works. We did build momentum. Our 24/25 classes are insane.. that's off of the ship. We still have guys playing that committed to COHEN. Think about that. And for those that are comparing vitello, he walked into a dump which is tough to turn aroun. BUT, it allows you to punt the entire roster and start from scratch. Lem took us the series twice and missed a great opportunity for 3. Would y'all be happy if he didn't do that so he could get "his" guys?? Hell no. Just back away for a minute. We've Invented ways to lose. Lots is injuries and poor play to top. I'm not saying lem isn't open for criticism, but this is nuts.

I still don't see how if baseball takes 6-7 years to build a team how you explain Vitello

[CadaverDawg]

I still don't see how if baseball takes 6-7 years to build a team how you explain Vitello

Yep, Homedawg's post makes some sense, but he isn't factoring in the portal. And again, nobody is saying fire him....but he also doesn't get a 5 year pass full of sucking. You're a coach...COACH. Coach what you've got. Players matter, sure, but coach the ones you DO have. He did a poor job this year...as did Foxhall and GoTro

[Commercecomet24]

Here's the problem. People have no clue obviously how baseball recruiting works. We did build momentum. Our 24/25 classes are insane.. that's off of the ship. We still have guys playing that committed to COHEN. Think about that. And for those that are comparing vitello, he walked into a dump which is tough to turn aroun. BUT, it allows you to punt the entire roster and start from scratch. Lem took us the series twice and missed a great opportunity for 3. Would y'all be happy if he didn't do that so he could get "his" guys?? Hell no. Just back away for a minute. We've Invented ways to lose. Lots is injuries and poor play to top. I'm not saying lem isn't open for criticism, but this is nuts.

Great post and accurate!

[msstate7]

Yep, Homedawg's post makes some sense, but he isn't factoring in the portal. And again, nobody is saying fire him....but he also doesn't get a 5 year pass full of sucking. You're a coach...COACH. Coach what you've got. Players matter, sure, but coach the ones you DO have. He did a poor job this year...as did Foxhall and GoTro

BA said we had the 4th rated class last year. Play those guys...

[CadaverDawg]

BA said we had the 4th rated class last year. Play those guys...

Yep. Why haven't we been? We've been dead for a while this year. Should have had a youth movement by now...but I'm sure that isn't Lemonis's fault either. I think he is a good coach and recruiter...but he didn't do a good job coaching THIS year.

[msstate7]

And if there's some stupid unwritten rule about talking to other teams' recruits that committed in the 8th grade, break it. I love baseball, but the good ol' boy crap in baseball is what makes it keep falling farther and farther behind.

[MaroonFlounder]

One hit makes him the most clutch ever? He can't hit. The same people that were begging for him to start over lane are crickets now.

He bats 1.000 when in there to bunt. And Lem stopped putting him in there to get runners advanced w/ no outs.

[Homedawg]

I still don't see how if baseball takes 6-7 years to build a team how you explain Vitello

Where did I say that?? Can you read? I like you. But neshoba county has clearly hurt your reading comprehension.

[msstate7]

Yep. Why haven't we been? We've been dead for a while this year. Should have had a youth movement by now...but I'm sure that isn't Lemonis's fault either. I think he is a good coach and recruiter...but he didn't do a good job coaching THIS year.

Well, we still had a chance till this weekend. It's over now. These 2 weeks should be open audition for next year. Hell, start fristoe. Get the backups with eligibility as many PAs and IP as possible

[CadaverDawg]

And if there's some stupid unwritten rule about talking to other teams' recruits that committed in the 8th grade, break it. I love baseball, but the good ol' boy crap in baseball is what makes it keep falling farther and farther behind.

Agree

[msstate7]

Where did I say that?? Can you read? I like you. But neshoba county has clearly hurt your reading comprehension.

You talk about me all you want, but I'll be damned if you insult Neshoba central education

Haha

[Offshore Dawg]

You talk about me all you want, but I'll be damned if you insult Neshoba central education

Haha

That's funny !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ranchdawg]

?We are not the Bama of baseball.? WHY NOT? With that type of attitude we will always have a very mediocre atheletic Dept. across the board. And don?t give me the old worn out we are poor, we are in Starkville, we are in a rural state. Blab blab, all excuses! Lemonis, Foxhall and Gotro go out there and do your job, a job you are paid a lot of money to do and win games, period! Not saying fire them but put some fire up their @#&.

Are we fans not supposed to be angry by what we are witnessing on the field. You damn right we are supposed to be angry and angry as hell. And want it understood in baseball we don?t play second fiddle to anyone in this country and that has been a FACT for a long time.

[TALL DAWG]

You talk about me all you want, but I'll be damned if you insult Neshoba central education

Haha

First head that needs to roll is our hitting coach.

[TALL DAWG]

And, that would be at end of this yr, not next yr.

[EdwardDrayton]

If I were Lemonis, I would be in the portal with a sackful of NIL money. Use it unfettered while you still can. This team needs a serious talent influx/upgrade.

[Cooterpoot]

?We are not the Bama of baseball.? WHY NOT? With that type of attitude we will always have a very mediocre atheletic Dept. across the board. And don?t give me the old worn out we are poor, we are in Starkville, we are in a rural state. Blab blab, all excuses! Lemonis, Foxhall and Gotro go out there and do your job, a job you are paid a lot of money to do and win games, period! Not saying fire them but put some fire up their @#&.

Are we fans not supposed to be angry by what we are witnessing on the field. You damn right we are supposed to be angry and angry as hell. And want it understood in baseball we don?t play second fiddle to anyone in this country and that has been a FACT for a long time.

We've won one national title. Any other questions? We don't have the top classes every year either. Angry? No, you should be disappointed. There's a huge difference.

[EdwardDrayton]

First head that needs to roll is our hitting coach.

Appears this is much more a talent deficiency than a coaching issue.

[Ranchdawg]

We've won one national title. Any other questions? We don't have the top classes every year either. Angry? No, you should be disappointed. There's a huge difference.

Wear your M over S hat anywhere in this country and any true baseball fan will know exactly where you are from. FACT!

Sure we have one National title. Do you not want more?

[msstate7]

We've won one national title. Any other questions? We don't have the top classes every year either. Angry? No, you should be disappointed. There's a huge difference.

We started top 10, and we're fighting for a spot in Hoover. We should be angry. It's ok to be angry at a coach. It's ok to question a coach. It's ok to be mad at this year and still appreciate last year. Somewhere along the way it's got to the point where if you question a coach at all, you want them fired. So dumb

[EdwardDrayton]

Y'all need to back away from the ledge. It's a bad year. Coach ain't going anywhere. Nobody is unless they get a HC job.

Thank you Cooter for a voice of reason.

[EdwardDrayton]

We started top 10, and we're fighting for a spot in Hoover. We should be angry. It's ok to be angry at a coach. It's ok to question a coach. It's ok to be mad at this year and still appreciate last year. Somewhere along the way it's got to the point where if you question a coach at all, you want them fired. So dumb

Respect you much 7 but gotta go with Cooter on this one. Disappointed, yes. But sometimes even the best of us misfire on a plan or strategy. Leadership is not easy.

[KOdawg1]

Thank you Cooter for a voice of reason.

I've still yet to see anyone being unreasonable tho

[EdwardDrayton]

I've still yet to see anyone being unreasonable tho

There have been outright calls for Foxhall, Gautreau and to a lesser extent Lemonis. That’s unreasonable.

[Coach34]

I think Foxhall is a bigger problem than GoTro. Just look at this weekend.

Florida pitchers pounded the zone at the knee.
Florida pitchers had alot of run on their pitches
Florida pitchers changed speeds beautifully

State pitchers?

Rare back....throw hard. And throw a 3-2 breaking ball for ball 4.

[Coach34]

There have been outright calls for Foxhall, Gautreau and to a lesser extent Lemonis. That?s unreasonable.

Well, coaching comes into play when you arent pushing 1st rounders out there to play. Our pitching doesnt exactly scream "well coached"

We couldnt fix Bacon
Macloud got worse as the season went on
We couldnt fix Walling
Tepper has been sporadic
Fristoe has an ERA over 6

[KOdawg1]

There have been outright calls for Foxhall, Gautreau and to a lesser extent Lemonis. That’s unreasonable.

On this board? I've seen people disappointed with Foxhall, Gautreau, and Lemonis. And they should be.

Natty or not, this year was unacceptable. But I haven't seen anyone calling for them to be fired.

I see a lot of "They need to get this fixed." being met with "CALM DOWN, BACK AWAY FROM THE LEDGE, THIS IS BASEBALL."

[EdwardDrayton]

I think Foxhall is a bigger problem than GoTro. Just look at this weekend.

Florida pitchers pounded the zone at the knee.
Florida pitchers had alot of run on their pitches
Florida pitchers changed speeds beautifully

State pitchers?

Rare back....throw hard. And throw a 3-2 breaking ball for ball 4.

Coach, when you say Foxhall is the bigger problem, is it pitch calling (assuming he is calling pitches) or is it pitcher development (e.g. teaching them additional pitches)?

Or in contrast, is it talent deficiency or maybe just young talent that is slow to develop?

Or something else entirely?

[EdwardDrayton]

On this board? I've seen people disappointed with Foxhall, Gautreau, and Lemonis. And they should be.

Natty or not, this year was unacceptable. But I haven't seen anyone calling for them to be fired.

I see a lot of "They need to get this fixed." being met with "CALM DOWN, BACK AWAY FROM THE LEDGE, THIS IS BASEBALL."

For example:


First head that needs to roll is our hitting coach.

[KOdawg1]

For example:

Didn't see that. But I think if you ask most fans, they don't agree with that.

[EdwardDrayton]

And to set the tone for these discussions fellas, it is just plain enjoyable to try and drill down into some of our team issues. So do not interpret any contentiousness in the discussion. It is just more interesting trying to mine answers to our woes than watching our games.

[Coach34]

Coach, when you say Foxhall is the bigger problem, is it pitch calling (assuming he is calling pitches) or is it pitcher development (e.g. teaching them additional pitches)?

Or in contrast, is it talent deficiency or maybe just young talent that is slow to develop?

Or something else entirely?

He definitely calls pitches. He handles the walkie-talkie. I think his pitch-calling sux. Presto kept throwing 1st pitch breaking balls the other night to start and they finally sat on one and hammered it for a HR. We throw wayyyyy too many breaking balls on 3-2. We dont call the change near enough.

We throw alot more 4 seamers than 2 seamers. I see other staffs with guys throwing 88-90 getting alot of run on the ball whereas our guys stuff stays so flat. I know power arms are all the rage now but when you throw 88-91 movement should be your primary concern.

Between all that, pitching decisions, recruiting decisions- I just think there are better guys out there than what we have

[EdwardDrayton]

He definitely calls pitches. He handles the walkie-talkie. I think his pitch-calling sux. Presto kept throwing 1st pitch breaking balls the other night to start and they finally sat on one and hammered it for a HR. We throw wayyyyy too many breaking balls on 3-2. We dont call the change near enough.

We throw alot more 4 seamers than 2 seamers. I see other staffs with guys throwing 88-90 getting alot of run on the ball whereas our guys stuff stays so flat. I know power arms are all the rage now but when you throw 88-91 movement should be your primary concern.

Between all that, pitching decisions, recruiting decisions- I just think there are better guys out there than what we have

Bingo. You have captured the pitching side in a nutshell.

Pitch selection at times this season has been infuriating so Foxhall certainly has to answer for that.

Pitching with location and movement seems to have become passe. That is just plain sad. Think Greg Maddux for one.

And, yes, we most assuredly need a talent upgrade and firmly believe we should be able to make this happen.

[ScooterDog]

Yes, we to get some talent, recruiting or portal. With the best stadium in the country, I don't see why we can't. And if we don't, we are in for big trouble next year. I agree with some others here, Lemonis needs to be recruiting for a better hitting coach as well. But I think that only a big drop in ticket sales will get management's attention. We'll see.

[EdwardDrayton]

Didn't see that. But I think if you ask most fans, they don't agree with that.

I also think that is true KO. While our coaches certainly have shortfalls and misfires for which to answer, most of us still believe in them. Leadership is not easy, as those who have been in the positions will attest. But, one key attribute of leadership is to fully unveil the failures, accept responsibility, be accountable and take the necessary corrective measures.

PS. Yes, for you grammar hounds, I split the infinitive on purpose. Just because I enjoy messing with you. :)

[AlSwearengen]

He definitely calls pitches. He handles the walkie-talkie. I think his pitch-calling sux. Presto kept throwing 1st pitch breaking balls the other night to start and they finally sat on one and hammered it for a HR. We throw wayyyyy too many breaking balls on 3-2. We dont call the change near enough.

We throw alot more 4 seamers than 2 seamers. I see other staffs with guys throwing 88-90 getting alot of run on the ball whereas our guys stuff stays so flat. I know power arms are all the rage now but when you throw 88-91 movement should be your primary concern.

Between all that, pitching decisions, recruiting decisions- I just think there are better guys out there than what we have


I like this post. It seems that we are obsessed with the 4 seam but you have to have the right guys for it. I can’t think of one pitcher that we have other than B. Smith that I see a good bit of arm side run from.

That said, does a lot of it have to do with the gaps in recruiting?

[MaroonFlounder]

I just read Lemonis postgame comments, and I'm not sure what game he was watching.

Exact quote about the 9th inning meltdown: "Sometimes you lose when you play good all game"

The only run on the board the first 8 innings was on a ball the FL infield lost in the sun.

[Todd4State]

Polk missed postseason 9 times and Cohen 3 times. Let's not pretend we haven't missed some postseason here and there. Hell, Lemonis hasn't even missed a CWS until this year. Two full seasons, two CWS. Had a damn good team in the Covid year too. Only coach with a Natty. Y'all getting crazy. We aren't the AL of college baseball or something.
We'll bring in some people and see how it goes. We'll be young/inexperienced depth wise. We basically missed one year of recruiting due to the Canz crap putting behind. That year has to be corrected with good portal guys. Problem is, the baseball portal isn't the same as the football portal where AL can go get a good player from LSU. We won't go get a 5 star transfer that can just be our ace.

Polk's heyday was a different era when 48 teams made the field. It's a lot harder now. Cohen had a massive rebuild. We need and should strive to be the Alabama of baseball. We've now won everything we can win and that's the next logical step.


If you can't build momentum after a Natty, when can you? It's not crazy to think that a year after a Natty when we return 6 of 9 starters, we should make a Regional. Not crazy at all. The injuries hurt, for sure, but we sucked before them. All I'm saying is, if Lemonis can't hit the portal and recruiting trail and promise immediate playing time at THIS program where it is now...he may be Gene Chizik. I hope he's not, and I'm not saying he is...I'm just saying he better turn it around next year or many, including myself, will think he's unable to build a program and can only win with a roster of studs recruited by someone else.

With transfer portal and NIL, this isn't the Polk days where you just keep a coach forever and hope he has some great years mixed in amongst the shitty ones. That's a good way to find yourself wasting a National Championship and at the bottom of the league. Baseball is all we've got, let's face it....we can't afford to let it crumble bc we're still high off of a Title. I want Lemonis to feel some pressure so he will produce.

If he is worth his salt...he's pissed and will turn it around next year. That's what I'm hoping for, bc I actually like him.

Look- Cohen and our fan base are not going to allow anyone to tank the program. Period. Being reasonable- if he can't get us back to our normal Super Regional level in a couple of years with new assistants then we probably make a change.


Here's the problem. People have no clue obviously how baseball recruiting works. We did build momentum. Our 24/25 classes are insane.. that's off of the ship. We still have guys playing that committed to COHEN. Think about that. And for those that are comparing vitello, he walked into a dump which is tough to turn aroun. BUT, it allows you to punt the entire roster and start from scratch. Lem took us the series twice and missed a great opportunity for 3. Would y'all be happy if he didn't do that so he could get "his" guys?? Hell no. Just back away for a minute. We've Invented ways to lose. Lots is injuries and poor play to top. I'm not saying lem isn't open for criticism, but this is nuts.

Good point. Most of our fans think that winning a National Championship means that we will immediately have an impact class when in reality it takes a couple of years to reap the full rewards of a National Title. The thing is people have a hard time being patient and seeing the big picture in regards to that.


?We are not the Bama of baseball.? WHY NOT? With that type of attitude we will always have a very mediocre atheletic Dept. across the board. And don?t give me the old worn out we are poor, we are in Starkville, we are in a rural state. Blab blab, all excuses! Lemonis, Foxhall and Gotro go out there and do your job, a job you are paid a lot of money to do and win games, period! Not saying fire them but put some fire up their @#&.

Are we fans not supposed to be angry by what we are witnessing on the field. You damn right we are supposed to be angry and angry as hell. And want it understood in baseball we don?t play second fiddle to anyone in this country and that has been a FACT for a long time.

Yep!


I think Foxhall is a bigger problem than GoTro. Just look at this weekend.

Florida pitchers pounded the zone at the knee.
Florida pitchers had alot of run on their pitches
Florida pitchers changed speeds beautifully

State pitchers?

Rare back....throw hard. And throw a 3-2 breaking ball for ball 4.


Well, coaching comes into play when you arent pushing 1st rounders out there to play. Our pitching doesnt exactly scream "well coached"

We couldnt fix Bacon
Macloud got worse as the season went on
We couldnt fix Walling
Tepper has been sporadic
Fristoe has an ERA over 6


He definitely calls pitches. He handles the walkie-talkie. I think his pitch-calling sux. Presto kept throwing 1st pitch breaking balls the other night to start and they finally sat on one and hammered it for a HR. We throw wayyyyy too many breaking balls on 3-2. We dont call the change near enough.

We throw alot more 4 seamers than 2 seamers. I see other staffs with guys throwing 88-90 getting alot of run on the ball whereas our guys stuff stays so flat. I know power arms are all the rage now but when you throw 88-91 movement should be your primary concern.

Between all that, pitching decisions, recruiting decisions- I just think there are better guys out there than what we have

I agree 100% with all of this. And yet most of our fans seem to want Gautreau to be fired? I don't get it. Our team ERA is near 6. Meanwhile yes the offense struggles with RISP but they also are 14 away from a school record in home runs and the offense is statistically similar to last year.


I like this post. It seems that we are obsessed with the 4 seam but you have to have the right guys for it. I can’t think of one pitcher that we have other than B. Smith that I see a good bit of arm side run from.

That said, does a lot of it have to do with the gaps in recruiting?

Maybe a little bit. But it has more to do with injuries and poor coaching. Foxhall just isn't very flexible. He tries to coach every game the same way regardless. That works fine if you have the Landon Sims ace in the hole card you can play. But that's rare. Like I said- very few mound visits and he just lets guys try to figure it out. I don't get it. Yes, we've had injuries but he hasn't really done us any favors this year. Leaves starters in too long. Takes out guys when they're in a groove. And it seems like he tries to force people into roles like when he tried to make Fristoe the closer. And then like Coach said- he patterns our pitches too much. Even educated fans shouldn't be picking up on that. It's embarrassing for him.

We need to get either Frank Johnson from Tennessee who I think would be a great addition to the staff because he is fiery instead of the three nice choir boys we have coaching. Could help the team. I'd take Christian Ostrander from USM as well. You have to be able to recruit and develop to succeed like he has at Delta State, Arkansas State, and USM. Plus he has coached at Alabama so he isn't completely foreign to the SEC. I'd look at Dallas Baptist too. That place is a pitching factory.

[Irondawg]

I may be totally naive but I've not been the biggest Foxhall fan either. Agree with a lot of points we've made and the thing to me is that a lot of our staff is the same guy. Cohen seemed to always have a variety of guys on staff. Sider armers, sinker guys, etc. Sure the K's are nice but now when we aren't striking guys out they seem to either walk or hit the ball pretty hard somewhere. We don't have a lot of guys that induce consistent weak contact.

No idea if that's intentional by the coaching staff or not, but the nature of the college beast is that it's hard to consistently have a staff of elite arms. We seem to value velo way more than guys that show they know how to pitch and it bit us this year.

Whatever reason, even without injuries this wasn't a great staff as a lot of guys have not developed into reliable upper end arms.

We've done the same thing on the hitting side in regards to our focus on power over contact and batting eye.

[Todd4State]

I may be totally naive but I've not been the biggest Foxhall fan either. Agree with a lot of points we've made and the thing to me is that a lot of our staff is the same guy. Cohen seemed to always have a variety of guys on staff. Sider armers, sinker guys, etc. Sure the K's are nice but now when we aren't striking guys out they seem to either walk or hit the ball pretty hard somewhere. We don't have a lot of guys that induce consistent weak contact.

No idea if that's intentional by the coaching staff or not, but the nature of the college beast is that it's hard to consistently have a staff of elite arms. We seem to value velo way more than guys that show they know how to pitch and it bit us this year.

Whatever reason, even without injuries this wasn't a great staff as a lot of guys have not developed into reliable upper end arms.

We've done the same thing on the hitting side in regards to our focus on power over contact and batting eye.

Cohen built our team much better than what we have now. Once he got it finally established. We went from rebuild to full on dirtbag team (2011) to small ball (2012-2013) to finally transitioning into a balanced team that had a good blend of speed, power, great arms, and good defense. Essentially led to our best run in baseball- which is saying something given our history.

You are absolutely correct that we have too many of the same guy. Some variety would be nice.

Valuing velocity is fine. However, the stereotype is guys that throw hard typically have worse control. So those pitchers are going to need more coaching to reach their ceiling. And that's the issue that we're having. Those are the pitchers that you can't just throw out there and expect them to just figure it out. Which is what Foxhall seems to do. The result is usually a disaster with a lot of walks and then a bomb which kills their confidence. They're a bunch of Ricky Vaughn's before the glasses.

The only thing I disagree on is about it not being a great staff before injuries. Both Sims and Simmons were lights out for us before they went down. And Simmons is a multi inning guy. Having Sims in the rotation means that Brandon Smith is in the bullpen and possibly our midweek guy like Harding last year. So instead of having to pitch an inconsistent Jackson Fristoe as much those innings would be going to Simmons. I doubt we would see Talley or Tullar much either. Not to mention Auger and the innings he would eat. Add in Hunt and Pico and that's a pretty decent to good pitching staff.

[MoreCowbell]

So, we are going to hire another new coach, making it our fifth in, what, seven years? Then we lose 3/4 of our commits and ya’ll are wondering why we suck when we can’t beat the rest of the league with left over recruits that we poached from usm, uab, and Memphis in an effort to fill out a roster.

Look at florida. O’Sullivan is supposed to be a whiz bang coach, recruits lights out every year and they have badly underperformed the last few years. It’s baseball and it is the SEC.

My biggest concern with our coaching staff right now is, did they genuinely think this team was going to be in the top half of the league, even without the injuries? Without injuries, I think we fight to get to 15-15 but do and make the tournament. We never should have been in the discussion for repeating anything.

Ya’ll chill out. Augie Garrido wasn’t winning with this situation.

The problem with this analogy is FL does not gaf abt baseball. We do. Tighten it tf up Lemonis

[Leeshouldveflanked]

If you had 2 or 3 line drive hitting high OBP hitters and 2 rubber armed sinker balling pitchers on this team its a different season.

[KOdawg1]

If you had 2 or 3 line drive hitting high OBP hitters and 2 rubber armed sinker balling pitchers on this team its a different season.
This is correct. Solo home runs are great and all, but they don't win you games.

[FISHDAWG]

One hit makes him the most clutch ever? He can't hit. The same people that were begging for him to start over lane are crickets now.

he's had more than one clutch hit this year ... I won't even bring up the clutch hit of the series last year. I just think it's difficult for either one to produce consistently when being platooned ... Forsythe finally got extended playing time and now his numbers came up - I wouldn't doubt the same might have happened for Leggett.

[BrunswickDawg]

Polk's heyday was a different era when 48 teams made the field. It's a lot harder now. Cohen had a massive rebuild. We need and should strive to be the Alabama of baseball. We've now won everything we can win and that's the next logical step.
.

This is maybe the worst thing any of our fan base should believe. We win 1 Natty and we should become a Bama like dynasty? Look, I get that we have great fan support and have a great tradition, and we invest in baseball - but that just ain't going to happen. There is no Alabama of college baseball. College baseball isn't built that way - at least not since the 1980s when the SEC finally woke up and started really competing for CWS spots. Outside of USC's 12 titles (all but 1 of which was pre-1980), no one has more than 6 titles. And if you break that down further to post 1980, only LSU (with all 6 of theirs) has more than 3 titles. Baseball is not a sport of single dominance when it comes titles, and since the Super Regional Era began, it has gotten increasingly difficult to even make the CWS multiple years in a row.

Now - if you want to quantify it better as we should "expect to be a playoff team every year", I think that is legit. If you want to say we should have multiple CWS appearances every decade, I think you'd have a strong argument.
Now NIL and all the pay for play schemes that are popping up may change all of that - assuming it is allowed to continue in it's current form. But in a sport where Coastal Carolina has 1 CWS appearance, with a win, and FSU has 23 CWS appearances without ever winning a title - expecting anyone to have Bama-like dominance is just ridiculous.

[Cooterpoot]

We have great fan support and a great park. We have one Natty...1. I'm fine with striving to be great, but there's no way to even be "The Alabama of Baseball" these days. Baseball is completely different than football. Even Vandy is taking some hits now. And with money becoming an even greater factor with NIL, going to be tough.

[The Federalist Engineer]

Crazy and Lazy Math - business math, not engineering or stochastic analysis. I am going to explore this number further as SEC only, Friday Only, etc.

If you give last years team the current Team ERA, basically 2 runs more to the opponents. The 2021 national champs lose 5 or 6 more SEC games. They finish 15-15 in the SEC. They probably don't survive Notre Dame and even make Omaha. That's with Rowdey and the Goat hitting.

The pitching depth is the obvious and clear problem. 2021 with Landon Sims closing the toughest games, the team gave up 51 runs in 68 games in the 8th and 9th inning. This year, 80 runs in the last two innings in just 48 games.

You can't portal-In a Bednar, BJ Wallace or Sims, but if MSU can portal in Colby White, Spencer Price, Zach Neff and JP France the boys can win 16 to 17 games in the SEC next year. With Daniel Brown (Daniel not Paul) added to mix, you have a Super Regional team easy. These were all great players, but certainly gettable players from JC and D1 transfers. You will need to recruit 6 players cause someone will have Canadian Syndrome. Yes, just asking for a minor miracle here.

[Cooterpoot]

Crazy and Lazy Math - business math, not engineering or stochastic analysis. I am going to explore this number further as SEC only, Friday Only, etc.

If you give last years team the current Team ERA, basically 2 runs more to the opponents. The 2021 national champs lose 5 or 6 more SEC games. They finish 15-15 in the SEC. They probably don't survive Notre Dame and even make Omaha. That's with Rowdey and the Goat hitting.

The pitching depth is the obvious and clear problem. 2021 with Landon Sims closing the toughest games, the team gave up 51 runs in 68 games in the 8th and 9th inning. This year, 80 runs in the last two innings in just 48 games.

You can't portal-In a Bednar, BJ Wallace or Sims, but if MSU can portal in Colby White, Spencer Price, Zach Neff and JP France the boys can win 16 to 17 games in the SEC next year. With Daniel Brown (Daniel not Paul) added to mix, you have a Super Regional team easy. These were all great players, but certainly gettable players from JC and D1 transfers. You will need to recruit 6 players cause someone will have Canadian Syndrome. Yes, just asking for a minor miracle here.

Already got our Colby White coming in from Juco. But he's hitting 100+ on the gun, not 95 like White.

[BrunswickDawg]

Crazy and Lazy Math - business math, not engineering or stochastic analysis. I am going to explore this number further as SEC only, Friday Only, etc.

If you give last years team the current Team ERA, basically 2 runs more to the opponents. The 2021 national champs lose 5 or 6 more SEC games. They finish 15-15 in the SEC. They probably don't survive Notre Dame and even make Omaha. That's with Rowdey and the Goat hitting.

The pitching depth is the obvious and clear problem. 2021 with Landon Sims closing the toughest games, the team gave up 51 runs in 68 games in the 8th and 9th inning. This year, 80 runs in the last two innings in just 48 games.

You can't portal-In a Bednar, BJ Wallace or Sims, but if MSU can portal in Colby White, Spencer Price, Zach Neff and JP France the boys can win 16 to 17 games in the SEC next year. With Daniel Brown (Daniel not Paul) added to mix, you have a Super Regional team easy. These were all great players, but certainly gettable players from JC and D1 transfers. You will need to recruit 6 players cause someone will have Canadian Syndrome. Yes, just asking for a minor miracle here.

Closer. Closer. Closer. Not having a closer this year easily cost us 8-10 wins - maybe more. As a team, we have 4 saves this year. Last year, Sims had 13 and the team total was 18. 2019 Gordon had 11 and the team had 16. 2018 we had 14 as a team. 2017 Price had 14 and the team had 26. 2016 we had 19. You get the picture. This is our worst season for saves since 2015 (9), and the lowest total I can find going back to at least 1987 (5 - and I don't think the records on thebaseballcube.com are complete).

[Commercecomet24]

Already got our Colby White coming in from Juco. But he's hitting 100+ on the gun, not 95 like White.

Yep and I've seen him pitch. Gonna be a great addition.

[Commercecomet24]

Closer. Closer. Closer. Not having a closer this year easily cost us 8-10 wins - maybe more. As a team, we have 4 saves this year. Last year, Sims had 13 and the team total was 18. 2019 Gordon had 11 and the team had 16. 2018 we had 14 as a team. 2017 Price had 14 and the team had 26. 2016 we had 19. You get the picture. This is our worst season for saves since 2015 (9), and the lowest total I can find going back to at least 1987 (5 - and I don't think the records on thebaseballcube.com are complete).

Good post. The fact not having a closer and having to push some of our best bullpen guys to the starting rotation which moved our weaker bullpen arms into key roles really hurt. The domino effect hurt bad this year.

[preachermatt83]

You're on the clock next year. This shit is unacceptable. The Natty honeymoon is over. Shape up next year or ship out

There is no way this was typed while sober

[KOdawg1]

Yep and I've seen him pitch. Gonna be a great addition.

How confident are we he comes to school? MLB doesn't let too many 100+ arms walk away.

[Cooterpoot]

How confident are we he comes to school? MLB doesn't let too many 100+ arms walk away.

Don't think he's draft eligible but could be wrong.

[basedog]

Good post. The fact not having a closer and having to push some of our best bullpen guys to the starting rotation which moved our weaker bullpen arms into key roles really hurt. The domino effect hurt bad this year.

Big time!

[basedog]

Not making the Sec tourney is like 1-10 (La Tech). Not sure what the situation I would take if I was Lemonis, but with the portal and transfer rules I wonder about some of the guys who have eligibility if they will be asked back next year from Lemonis. I don't have the answers, but something has to be "upgraded and corrected".

[Cooterpoot]

Hell, look how many guys we've signed and brought in that didn't even make the team for spring. It's been a high number. Recruiting is a concern. Everybody knows I'm not a big Foxhall guy, but I'm cutting him slack this year. We simply have to recruit better. We should be signing big time players all over the country, not just the MS, AL kids. We used to get a lot of FL kids that we don't now too.

[BrunswickDawg]

Hell, look how many guys we've signed and brought in that didn't even make the team for spring. It's been a high number. Recruiting is a concern. Everybody knows I'm not a big Foxhall guy, but I'm cutting him slack this year. We simply have to recruit better. We should be signing big time players all over the country, not just the MS, AL kids. We used to get a lot of FL kids that we don't now too.

I think the expanded COVID roster last year is the cause of a lot of that. 2019 and 2020 kids got zero development time unless they could break into the line up. The expanded roster helped us win with pitching depth last year, and hurt us with development for this year and possibly next. A lot of those 2019-20 kids are playing well in JUCO.

[Cooterpoot]

I think the expanded COVID roster last year is the cause of a lot of that. 2019 and 2020 kids got zero development time unless they could break into the line up. The expanded roster helped us win with pitching depth last year, and hurt us with development for this year and possibly next. A lot of those 2019-20 kids are playing well in JUCO.

We cut transfers too. So it's not simply that. We've not evaluated well enough.

[Todd4State]

This is maybe the worst thing any of our fan base should believe. We win 1 Natty and we should become a Bama like dynasty? Look, I get that we have great fan support and have a great tradition, and we invest in baseball - but that just ain't going to happen. There is no Alabama of college baseball. College baseball isn't built that way - at least not since the 1980s when the SEC finally woke up and started really competing for CWS spots. Outside of USC's 12 titles (all but 1 of which was pre-1980), no one has more than 6 titles. And if you break that down further to post 1980, only LSU (with all 6 of theirs) has more than 3 titles. Baseball is not a sport of single dominance when it comes titles, and since the Super Regional Era began, it has gotten increasingly difficult to even make the CWS multiple years in a row.

Now - if you want to quantify it better as we should "expect to be a playoff team every year", I think that is legit. If you want to say we should have multiple CWS appearances every decade, I think you'd have a strong argument.
Now NIL and all the pay for play schemes that are popping up may change all of that - assuming it is allowed to continue in it's current form. But in a sport where Coastal Carolina has 1 CWS appearance, with a win, and FSU has 23 CWS appearances without ever winning a title - expecting anyone to have Bama-like dominance is just ridiculous.

Why is that? Baseball is difficult to win a championship in. But this is also the same sport that the Yankees have dominated and at this level USC has done it and LSU has done it as well. So it's not impossible either. The key word here is "strive"- not "should".

There are 12 legit blue bloods in the sport IMO- Mississippi State, LSU, Arkansas, Texas, Miami, Florida State, USC, Stanford, Arizona State, Arizona, Oregon State, and Cal State Fullerton. I'm not including Vanderbilt because the reason they have won titles is because of their endowment advantage which I think is a house of cards with the new scholarship rules coming into effect soon and they haven't shown that they can consistently compete with different coaches. If they can sustain their success I'll change my mind. Anyway of that group the majority of those schools are in baseball hot beds or border baseball hot beds like California, Florida, or Texas. Of that group the only schools that can rival us in terms of facilities and support are LSU and Arkansas and maybe Florida State. Both LSU and Arkansas focus on other sports in addition to baseball and they are also both in or near AA baseball sized cities which helps with their attendance figures. And yet- we technically outdraw those two despite being 2 hours away from a AA city and a AAA city in Memphis. With Tupelo and Meridian being the size of A ball cities.

So, like Alabama in football which is also not in a major football producing state like California or Texas we also put more and invest more in baseball than the other blue bloods. The biggest reason we don't have more National Championships IMO is because we really only came onto the national scene in 1979 making us still relatively new for a blue blood and the scholarship limits really hurt us for a long time. Especially since we weren't really playing on a level playing field with LSU in the 1990's and Vanderbilt the past 15-20 years or so. That is about to change finally which will allow us to finally potentially recruit at our peak. And like Alabama which produces some good high school football players we can still recruit nationally from the major baseball producing states while also getting the best in Mississippi. And we will have the scholarship money and NIL money to make it work compared to others.

And we didn't even really start trying to make a push for a National Championship as a University until Greg Byrne became the AD and brought in Cohen. Since 2011 when Cohen got us back on our feet we have:

1. Been to the three most prestigious early season tournaments in college baseball in Houston, Dallas, and Los Angeles and did well at all three.
2. Had a 7-3 record in the Governor's Cup with two of our losses coming in years where we had meltdown years.
3. Won the SEC
4. Won the SEC Tournament
5. Hosted and won Regionals and have only been eliminated from a regional twice since 2011.
6. Been a National Seed Three times
7. Been to 7 Super Regionals and won four of them
8. Been to the College World Series four times including three times in a row.
9. Been the National Runner up
10 Won a National Title.

My whole point to all of this is our "bad years" should not be complete meltdown years and that we as a program should not settle for just the one National Championship and continue to move it forward. We invest too much and have too many resources to have a 25 win season because of injuries. My minimum expectation for our program is to simply go to a Super Regional every year. Which is fair. I can tolerate being eliminated in a regional. This season is completely unacceptable. And I could honestly tolerate this if it was say once every 25-30 years. For us though this has happened 4 going on 5 times the past 25 years. Of the SEC bluebloods Arkansas has only had one year like this recently and LSU has never had a year like this since Bertman took over- even during the Smoke Laval years. Ole Miss hasn't had a year like this under Bianco- even years when they were riddled with pitching injuries. USM hasn't had a year like this and they even made a coaching change since the Hill Denson days. So we've accomplished more but we've also had some Chernobyl type seasons as well. Even if you take out the Polk/Cohen transition years we've had more seasons like this.

The last thing I'll say about this- as of even last year I had fans telling me that we would never win a National Championship. And here we are. Now as far as becoming the dominant force in college baseball we need to start looking at ways where we can become dominant and building our team properly where we can withstand and weather potential storms better than we have this year. We have all of the ingredients in place- former players in MLB having a lot of success and many former alums in MLB. Most of those still follow and care about our program as much or more than any of us. Former players who were first round picks as both hitters and pitchers. And hopefully Logan Tanner can be a first round pick catcher. We have a LOT we can point to as far as recruiting.

[Todd4State]

We cut transfers too. So it's not simply that. We've not evaluated well enough.

Please tell me that you are not referring to our current players who won the National Championship last year? I think Landon Sims debunked this with his tweet last week better than I ever could.

We have talent. And the MLB draft next month will further prove my point on that I'm sure.

The issue I see is development. Which goes back to what I was talking about with Foxhall's just throw them out there and let them figure it out approach. Fristoe and Tepper are great examples. Both throw in the mid 90's. Both have inconsistent mechanics. If we had a coach that could teach that better then they would be better which would in turn make the team better.

Another example from last year was Eric Cerentola. Same issues essentially.

Even though our players are very talented they still need to be coached. They're still developing. This isn't MLB where you have a guy that's at least 23 years old and has been in the minors or even older and is fully developed where it's basically troubleshooting for the coaches at that point and making sure reps are maintained.

[Cooterpoot]

Please tell me that you are not referring to our current players who won the National Championship last year? I think Landon Sims debunked this with his tweet last week better than I ever could.

We have talent. And the MLB draft next month will further prove my point on that I'm sure.

The issue I see is development. Which goes back to what I was talking about with Foxhall's just throw them out there and let them figure it out approach. Fristoe and Tepper are great examples. Both throw in the mid 90's. Both have inconsistent mechanics. If we had a coach that could teach that better then they would be better which would in turn make the team better.

Another example from last year was Eric Cerentola. Same issues essentially.

Even though our players are very talented they still need to be coached. They're still developing. This isn't MLB where you have a guy that's at least 23 years old and has been in the minors or even older and is fully developed where it's basically troubleshooting for the coaches at that point and making sure reps are maintained.

We don't have the talent we should.

[basedog]

Please tell me that you are not referring to our current players who won the National Championship last year? I think Landon Sims debunked this with his tweet last week better than I ever could.

We have talent. And the MLB draft next month will further prove my point on that I'm sure.

The issue I see is development. Which goes back to what I was talking about with Foxhall's just throw them out there and let them figure it out approach. Fristoe and Tepper are great examples. Both throw in the mid 90's. Both have inconsistent mechanics. If we had a coach that could teach that better then they would be better which would in turn make the team better.

Another example from last year was Eric Cerentola. Same issues essentially.

Even though our players are very talented they still need to be coached. They're still developing. This isn't MLB where you have a guy that's at least 23 years old and has been in the minors or even older and is fully developed where it's basically troubleshooting for the coaches at that point and making sure reps are maintained.

Some guys just don’t develope,tell me how Eric Certentola is doing? Blaming Foxhall for Fristoe and Tepper, I ain’t buying. Blaming guys who swing and miss plus watch strike three ain’t coaching either. Baseball ain’t all about Coaching, athletes adjust with minor tweaking, not every pitcher can have same mechanics as well as batters.
I blame “most” of our problems on the players. I also think our Coaches haven’t done the best job coaching some up also. Recruiting has to improve and staying injure free is a must.

[ImissCityBagel]

Who are we losing from this team next year?

[Homedawg]

Don't think he's draft eligible but could be wrong.

He's a juco. All jucos are draft eligible.

[The Federalist Engineer]

Some guys just don’t develope,tell me how Eric Certentola is doing? Blaming Foxhall for Fristoe and Tepper, I ain’t buying. Blaming guys who swing and miss plus watch strike three ain’t coaching either. Baseball ain’t all about Coaching, athletes adjust with minor tweaking, not every pitcher can have same mechanics as well as batters.
I blame “most” of our problems on the players. I also think our Coaches haven’t done the best job coaching some up also. Recruiting has to improve and staying injure free is a must.

I agree, when you recruit guys so far in the future, anything can happen. From Austin Tyler that develops too quick and becomes a 1st rounder to Luken Baker (TCU) kid. The TCU kid went from modern Babe Ruth to positionlees pinch hitter with a little pop.

I think MSU fans may be tunnel visioned on MSU. Forgetting that we did not have a stable program for 3 years. Also, LSU, Ole Miss, Arkansas and Florida are recruiting machines too. Florida is loaded with busted "10" rated players. Arkansas ticks on quality volume. Wiggins is still a work in progress and Stovall is not outperforming Hunter Hines. Our guy looks more like the new Todd Walker.

[The Federalist Engineer]

Already got our Colby White coming in from Juco. But he's hitting 100+ on the gun, not 95 like White.

If the 100 is legit, let's stop talking about it. Atlanta Braves love to wreck our Recruiting classes.

[Cooterpoot]

He's a juco. All jucos are draft eligible.

Correct, it's been a long, rough day today

[Commercecomet24]

He's a juco. All jucos are draft eligible.

Yeah he's eligible I've seen him as high as #78 and outside the top 200 so who knows where's he's gonna go or if the money will be enough to sway him. I have heard he wants to play at State and I think it's greater than 50/50 we get him but who the heck knows with these kids.

[MedDawg]

Vitello won 50 in year 4, and he's doing even better in year 5. Can we at miss state not expect similar results or does our coach need 6 years to get the program to the level where he found it?

Lemonis won 52 in year 1 including multiple CWS wins and 50 in full year 2 including the national championship.

Why did Vitello take so long to win 50 games? Vitello hasn't even won even 1 CWS game yet? He sucks compared to Lemonis!

[msstate7]

Lemonis won 52 in year 1 including multiple CWS wins and 50 in full year 2 including the national championship.

Why did Vitello take so long to win 50 games? Vitello hasn't even won even 1 CWS game yet? He sucks compared to Lemonis!

Let's just hope lemonis can build like Vitello. Tenn's 5 best pitchers are all Vitello recruits... 3 fresh, 1 soph, and a juco flame thrower

[The Federalist Engineer]

Lemonis won 52 in year 1 including multiple CWS wins and 50 in full year 2 including the national championship.

Why did Vitello take so long to win 50 games? Vitello hasn't even won even 1 CWS game yet? He sucks compared to Lemonis!

We are all going to feel much better when Tennessee is eliminated this year. It would be cool if it's done by some shitty PAC12 team that bunts them to death.

[Commercecomet24]

We are all going to feel much better when Tennessee is eliminated this year. It would be cool if it's done by some shitty PAC12 team that bunts them to death.

They are starting to struggle some and
very rarely does the team that starts the season hot win it all. I don't believe ut wins it. Oregon State is really starting to get hot. I think it's wide open this year.

[Cowbell]

Lemonis won 52 in year 1 including multiple CWS wins and 50 in full year 2 including the national championship.

Why did Vitello take so long to win 50 games? Vitello hasn't even won even 1 CWS game yet? He sucks compared to Lemonis!

Yeah I don't get the argument here. Lemonis has out performed Vitello at this point and it's not even close. Lemonis inherited some talent but he also inherited some major issues and some personalities that didn't gel easily.

[Cowbell]

They are starting to struggle some and
very rarely does the team that starts the season hot win it all. I don't believe ut wins it. Oregon State is really starting to get hot. I think it's wide open this year.

Biancoball - getting to number 1 early so that everyone can watch that late season slide

[The Federalist Engineer]

Biancoball - getting to number 1 early so that everyone can watch that late season slide

Doucheball is the Tennessee version

https://www.wate.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/42/2022/04/ezgif.com-gif-maker.gif?w=383

Maybe this is how you recruit 14 and 15 year-old kids. I bet riding with Bianco or Andy Cannizarro is thrilling to mid-teenage boys. My son is 7, I bet he rather hang with Vitello than Van Horn.

[Cooterpoot]

We've got some young kids committed that I wouldn't touch with a 10 ft pole. I have no idea what we see in them except they play for a particular organization. They aren't even great HS players. I think sometimes coaches start taking kids like that from a particular organization and miss out on some better players. There's one kid that's been hurt this year and just came back that's as good as any hitter in MS. Already has like 5 bombs in the week he's been back. He's signed out of state with a former coach of ours.
We really need to get back into FL. That's completely dried up for us. AL has been pretty good for lately. TX needs to be bigger for us. LA is hit and miss because of LSU. We seem to be going East for talent more and that's a positive.

[mparkerfd20]

Didn't see that. But I think if you ask most fans, they don't agree with that.
I lean heavily towards agreeing with it. Never have understood the GoTro love here. Without major changes both he and Foxhall need to be looking elsewhere.

[msstate7]

Yeah I don't get the argument here. Lemonis has out performed Vitello at this point and it's not even close. Lemonis inherited some talent but he also inherited some major issues and some personalities that didn't gel easily.

We were on a 3 year SR streak coming off a CWS appearance when lemonis was hired.

Tennessee hadn't been to a regional in 14 years when Vitello was hired. Tenn is about to win 50 in back-to-back years after a CWS appearance last year

Vitello has a better winning % at Tenn than lemonis at state. I like lemonis (even though I'm pissed about this year), but I'd trade straight up.

ETA... lemonis does have the ultimate feather in his cap, and that should in no way be minimized, but as a state (and braves here) fan, we should realize that winning it all takes more than a little luck. It's not very often imo that the best team wins it all in baseball (pro or college). Putting yourself in a position to succeed in the postseason should be the biggest factor in judging a coach

[Coach34]

We were on a 3 year SR streak coming off a CWS appearance when lemonis was hired.

Tennessee hadn't been to a regional in 14 years when Vitello was hired. Tenn is about to win 50 in back-to-back years after a CWS appearance last year

Vitello has a better winning % at Tenn than lemonis at state. I like lemonis (even though I'm pissed about this year), but I'd trade straight up.

Exactly. We won a Natty because Bednar turned into Superman in Omaha. We'll see if somebody from Tenn does the same thing.

[Cooterpoot]

I lean heavily towards agreeing with it. Never have understood the GoTro love here. Without major changes both he and Foxhall need to be looking elsewhere.

Gotro can't coach clutch. That's on the kids. Average and HRs are as good and better than last year. It's the failures and some bad luck when we needed to produce with runners on that's been the killer. The possible negative take is that we've gotten away from driving the ball around the park and seem to have too many dead pull hitters. We're recruiting so hard to that short RF porch. I hate that!

[CaptainObvious]

Closer. Closer. Closer. Not having a closer this year easily cost us 8-10 wins - maybe more. As a team, we have 4 saves this year. Last year, Sims had 13 and the team total was 18. 2019 Gordon had 11 and the team had 16. 2018 we had 14 as a team. 2017 Price had 14 and the team had 26. 2016 we had 19. You get the picture. This is our worst season for saves since 2015 (9), and the lowest total I can find going back to at least 1987 (5 - and I don't think the records on thebaseballcube.com are complete).

And in 1987, we still qualified for the 6 team SEC tourney at UGA as the 6th seed, then proceeded to win it, beating LSU 13-3 in the Championship Game.

[OLJWales]

And in 1987, we still qualified for the 6 team SEC tourney at UGA as the 6th seed, then proceeded to win it, beating LSU 13-3 in the Championship Game.

LSUX Complained and whined about us piling on when we won. Still remember that game.

[AlSwearengen]

Everyone concerned with Vitello and Tenn., remember that he was at ark for 3 years and tcu before that. He had been recruiting the top kids for awhile in the same footprint and he is known to be one of, if not the top recruiter in the country. He probably didn’t miss a beat with who he was recruiting and probably has taken a few that were headed for ark. Lemonis, on the other hand, was probably not recruiting the same kids at Indiana that he recruits at State.

[HancockCountyDog]

I swear its as if some people just ignore that we lost the most dominant pitcher in the country and another one of our weekend starters and people think we should be just fine?

What is our record if Sims is healthy?

People that think Lemonis is on any type of hot seat next year are beyond stupid.

[Pancho]

I think going 12-18 in SEC next year with very little obvious improvement in 2024 would start some stirring.

[Captain Falcon]

Let's just hope lemonis can build like Vitello. Tenn's 5 best pitchers are all Vitello recruits... 3 fresh, 1 soph, and a juco flame thrower

And the MVP of the College World Series last year was a Lemonis recruit.

[msstate7]

And the MVP of the College World Series last year was a Lemonis recruit.

He was awesome. Let's find some more bc this team is an abomination

[Mjoelner34]

What is our record if Sims is healthy?

In the SEC we're 4-4 on Fridays. We scored 2 or less runs in all 4 losses so I'm gonna say he would not have made much of a difference there. Now, move him to Saturday and I think we would have seen some wins. UGA L 11-12, UPIG L 5-12, LSU L 3-4, Mizzou L 8-19. I think we at least win the UGA and Mizzou games with a good chance of also getting the LSU game. Maybe the UPIG game too if things played out like they actually did. They got 8 of their 12 in the first 3 innings. That wouldn't have happened with Sims. Of course with Sims back, PJ could have been long relief for Cade if needed on Sundays. That could have prevented some late inning meltdowns like we saw this year. He seemed to perform better in that role last year than as a starter this year.

[CJDAWG85]

We should?ve never moved him out of the closer roll. How many games have we blown this year because we have blown it late in the game?

[Mjoelner34]

We should?ve never moved him out of the closer roll. How many games have we blown this year because we have blown it late in the game?

It may be earlier in this thread but somebody posted the other day that last year we gave up something like 51 8th and 9th inning runs in 68 games. In 48 games this year we have already given up 80.

[Commercecomet24]

We should?ve never moved him out of the closer roll. How many games have we blown this year because we have blown it late in the game?

His elbow would've blown closer or not.

[CJDAWG85]

I counted like 10-12 games this year. Big swing in the record with Sims coming in late.

[CJDAWG85]

It wouldn?t been gone in week 3.

[Commercecomet24]

It wouldn?t been gone in week 3.

No it may have been gone sooner than that! Closing is more stressful on an arm than relieving because it's max effort on every pitch

[Commercecomet24]

Losing Simmons was as big a blow as Sims because he was our closer and he was showing dominance.

[CJDAWG85]

We used him once a weekend last year.

[StarkVegasSteve]

If we go 0-7 in this last stretch, which is entirely possible, we will see a change somewhere. My money would be on it being Gautreau. Foxhall has a built in excuse, although development, or lack there of, of Tepper, Fristoe, Tullar, Stinnett, etc. falls on his shoulders. Also, Lemonis hired Foxhall so he will be more loyal to him.

[CJDAWG85]

Fristoe has to go. Dude is a headcase.

[DownwardDawg]

If we go 0-7 in this last stretch, which is entirely possible, we will see a change somewhere. My money would be on it being Gautreau. Foxhall has a built in excuse, although development, or lack there of, of Tepper, Fristoe, Tullar, Stinnett, etc. falls on his shoulders. Also, Lemonis hired Foxhall so he will be more loyal to him.

Gautreau needs to go.

[The Federalist Engineer]

In the SEC we're 4-4 on Fridays. We scored 2 or less runs in all 4 losses so I'm gonna say he would not have made much of a difference there. Now, move him to Saturday and I think we would have seen some wins. UGA L 11-12, UPIG L 5-12, LSU L 3-4, Mizzou L 8-19. I think we at least win the UGA and Mizzou games with a good chance of also getting the LSU game. Maybe the UPIG game too if things played out like they actually did. They got 8 of their 12 in the first 3 innings. That wouldn't have happened with Sims. Of course with Sims back, PJ could have been long relief for Cade if needed on Sundays. That could have prevented some late inning meltdowns like we saw this year. He seemed to perform better in that role last year than as a starter this year.

In an alternate universe- Sims, Simmons, and Auger do not get hurt. What does that mean...

100 + 50 + 40 = 190 innings are thrown by pitchers with sub 3 ERAs. That is 30% of the load in a good season.

That would have allowed PJ, Cade, Pico, BSmith, and KC Hunt handle the rest of the SEC load. There would not be so many +8 ERA guys running out of the pen to stop LSU in key moments. Certain cats we have would not have pitched many non SWAC innings this year.

MSU would be heading into this weekend with a shot to be a national seed. Needing 3 wins from 6 games to clinch.

[Todd4State]

If we go 0-7 in this last stretch, which is entirely possible, we will see a change somewhere. My money would be on it being Gautreau. Foxhall has a built in excuse, although development, or lack there of, of Tepper, Fristoe, Tullar, Stinnett, etc. falls on his shoulders. Also, Lemonis hired Foxhall so he will be more loyal to him.

From the outside looking in I think IF anyone is fired it will be either Foxhall or both Foxhall and Gautreau. I know he hired Foxhall but I don't think he is going to run our team like Dan Mullen. His pitching coach at Indiana was Kyle Bunn who had SEC experience at Ole Miss and Alabama and he didn't bring him along. I know it was recommended to Lemonis to keep Gautreau but I don't think anyone would have stood in the way if he wanted to hire someone else. FWIW and I'm not saying this to start anything because in context it's not really that big of a deal but I have noticed Lemonis very vocally saying things to Foxhall in the dugout like "You're going to take him out right?" Now that's certainly in game stress communication but I do think that it indicates that Foxhall isn't exactly a sacred cow either where Lemonis is going to just give him a complete pass.

Statistically our pitching has been way worse. Yes, because of injuries being the root of it- but at the same time are those injuries occurring because of Foxhall's program? Maybe and maybe not but it does need to be looked at. Then you have the lack of pitcher development. Fristoe is worse than last year. He should be pitching like Cade Smith is now. Our pitching mechanics are very inconsistent across the board. And this isn't really a one year deal. Eric Cerentola was not developed at all. He's now with the Royals and his control is markedly better. Andrew Walling and Parker Stinnett were top 200 MLB draft prospects that never developed and both have literally fallen off of the face of the Earth. And then the staff management has been awful all year long too. This whole funk started when he decided to "save pitchers" to try to win SEC games and he ended up pitching our shortstop and then that weekend we barely used Pico and didn't use Fristoe at all. Even with an injury riddled staff that's not how you manage in baseball. And this ridiculous idea that our top guys can only pitch once a week is absurd. If you throw 20 pitches on Friday or Saturday a relief pitcher should be available for the next game. And he has done things like that before but it got glossed over because we had Landon Sims who literally no coach can screw up usage wise or Cole Gordon. Let's not forget him throwing Trysten Barlow and Riley Self instead of Colby White against Vanderbilt in a situation where we absolutely had to have a strike out. That was a big reason eliminated from Omaha that year IMO. Almost happened last year when we brought in Stinnett instead of Sims against Texas and lost late. And while it didn't cost us the National Championship last year not developing Cerentola may have cost us a SEC title. Not developing Walling and others at all this year probably will cost us at least a winning season. I'm afraid he will get a pass this year because of injuries but the reality is there is a lot of nonsense going on right now with our pitching staff and he's at the root of it. And I can't believe we couldn't do better. He overextends starting pitchers- it's like they go six innings come hell or high water. Then the next guy goes 2 no matter what. And then the 9th has to go to someone else even if the guy pitching before was in a groove. Unless it's maybe KC Hunt. And then I haven't even gotten into the predictable pitch calling which is so basic I'm even hesitant to compare it to high school level.

https://www.milb.com/player/eric-cerantola-672021

Gautreau on the other hand the only reason I can think of logically from a baseball perspective for letting him go would be if we wanted to change our recruiting philosophy or we're just unhappy with that aspect of what he does. Which is possible. It's also a lot more correctable with a meeting. But I don't think we can fire him totally for performance as a hitting coach. The offense we have functions as it is built. We're among the top teams in home runs and runs scored. My gosh he has turned Lane Forsythe from the college version of Mario Mendoza into a decent hitter. Most of our hitters unlike our pitchers have improved from last year. We can complain about RISP but again I think that's correctable from a recruiting philosophy standpoint to a degree at least. That also gets magnified more when we lose even if we score 8 runs because "there was that one point in the game where if we had come through we win. Gee we're so bad in the clutch." Nevermind the 9 runs that the pitching allowed.

But logically unless there is something going on in the clubhouse between Lemonis and Gautreau that I'm unaware of I don't see how we could fire Gautreau and keep Foxhall.

[Cooterpoot]

There's a reason there's about to be some player turnover. It's called taking too damn many developmental players. Our recruiting has been crap. You're about to see recruits dropped too because they aren't good enough. Our evaluation hasn't been good enough.

[TNDawg35]

There's a reason there's about to be some player turnover. It's called taking too damn many developmental players. Our recruiting has been crap. You're about to see recruits dropped too because they aren't good enough. Our evaluation hasn't been good enough.

It’s already happening. There are 3 I know of off the top of my head. Also, there is a rumor that Memphis is coming after Gotro as head coach. Now I doubt he would take it, but there are rumbling up this way…

[msstate7]

There's a reason there's about to be some player turnover. It's called taking too damn many developmental players. Our recruiting has been crap. You're about to see recruits dropped too because they aren't good enough. Our evaluation hasn't been good enough.

If we suck at player evaluation, we're in trouble

[Pancho]

If we suck at player evaluation, we're in trouble

I personally feel that this is a major issue.

[Mjoelner34]

Great post Tood. Especially this point "there was that one point in the game where if we had come through we win. Gee we're so bad in the clutch." Nevermind the 9 runs that the pitching allowed."

[Saltydog]

There's a reason there's about to be some player turnover. It's called taking too damn many developmental players. Our recruiting has been crap. You're about to see recruits dropped too because they aren't good enough. Our evaluation hasn't been good enough.

I thought Lemonis was an elite recruiter. Isn't evaluation a big part of recruiting?

[Todd4State]

I thought Lemonis was an elite recruiter. Isn't evaluation a big part of recruiting?

It absolutely is. But much of that falls on the assistants as well. It's a group effort.

[Cooterpoot]

I thought Lemonis was an elite recruiter. Isn't evaluation a big part of recruiting?

His coaches handle most of that. I think Lemonis is a great recruiter as far as relating to kids.

[Coach34]

I know Lemon and Foxhall go way back and I get it. But Foxhall should be coaching for his job next Spring

[Ari Gold]

Been told by multiple high school coaches these guys from Mississippi won?t make impacts right away..
so he better hit the portal hard.. better get that NIL money ready..

[West Tn Dawg]

I said last year, we won despite him, not because of him. I still believe it.

[BayouDawg]

I know Lemon and Foxhall go way back and I get it. But Foxhall should be coaching for his job next Spring

Throw Geaut in there too. Just sitting there watching our home run or bust plate approach all year and him not getting the players to adjust was pathetic.

[Todd4State]

Been told by multiple high school coaches these guys from Mississippi won?t make impacts right away..
so he better hit the portal hard.. better get that NIL money ready..

Hmmm...they must not have seen Dakota Jordan or Ross Highfill.

[Homedawg]

Hmmm...they must not have seen Dakota Jordan or Ross Highfill.

I don't think highfill is an instant impact guy either. Got a chance to be a good player but if he's our starting catcher next year he's going to struggle. I haven't seen Jordan play other than video so won't speak on him.

[Ari Gold]

I don't think highfill is an instant impact guy either. Got a chance to be a good player but if he's our starting catcher next year he's going to struggle. I haven't seen Jordan play other than video so won't speak on him.

100% agree on Highfill A+ Cather that will struggle at the plate. Better hope Hancock comes back for his doctrine degree or portal is a must for catcher

[Ari Gold]

Hmmm...they must not have seen Dakota Jordan or Ross Highfill.


Highfill won’t be ready to hit, and everyone thought Ealy was college ready as well.. hopefully I’m wrong and they are both freshman AA
I do think dakota could be really good eventually if he makes it to campus. Just Not sure he is a college kid

[msugolf]

Hmmm...they must not have seen Dakota Jordan or Ross Highfill.

Dakota isn't going to college. That's pretty common knowledge among the people around him. And Highfill doesn't have the bat talent ...yet.

[sandjunky]

You're on the clock next year. This shit is unacceptable. The Natty honeymoon is over. Shape up next year or ship out

Agreed - you don?t get handed a lambo and get to turn it into a pinto

See JoMo


I don't see how he can turn it around next year. I just don't get how the more this becomes lemonis' team, the worse we're getting.

I have my doubts given the amount of turnover we will likely experience this off-season

[Leeshouldveflanked]

We will be very talent poor next season unless we strike it big in the Portal.

[maroonmania]

We will be very talent poor next season unless we strike it big in the Portal.

Yep, sad state of affairs for what is supposed to be the jewel of our athletics program.

[State82]

You're on the clock next year. This shit is unacceptable. The Natty honeymoon is over. Shape up next year or ship out

Ok, I've had it. This is spot on. He has taken the natty and has worn it completely out. Never, ever would I have believed it. I can't even fathom how someone could take the situation we had worked ourselves into and completely 17 it up.

And today, lead off double in the 2nd followed by three straight pop ups. And I do mean pop ups. On the 17ing infield. How is it even possible to be that completely shitty. Unbelievable.

Yeah, Lemonis, your ass is on the clock.

[NCDawg]

It is pretty bad going from National Champions to probably the worst team in the SEC.

[EdwardDrayton]

Yeah, it is so bad that SECN now making fun of us with an animated SEC horse race in which we finished dead last.

[msstate7]

Is lane hurt?

[CaptainObvious]

Is lane hurt?
Probably just his feelings for getting picked off first Friday.

[EdwardDrayton]

Is lane hurt?

Apparently Jim said he hurt his hand.

[NCDawg]

Hate we had to take out Smith. Our bullpen isn't the greatest.

[EdwardDrayton]

This team has attained full on warp speed regression. If they play many more they might tear a hole in the galaxy.

[msstate7]

This team has attained full on warp speed regression. If they play many more they might tear a hole in the galaxy.

Thank God for north Alabama or we might not win again this year. UNA May cancel it save their 270s RPI

[EdwardDrayton]

Thank God for north Alabama or we might not win again this year. UNA May cancel it save their 270s RPI

Was so preoccupied with next weekend and what a bloodbath that could be, completely forgot about North Alabama. At least they give us a real chance to end the losing streak.

[NCDawg]

Thank God for north Alabama or we might not win again this year. UNA May cancel it save their 270s RPI

Not sure we can beat North Alabama.

[msstate7]

#106 in rpi. Next closest sec team is SC at #69. We were a top 10 team preseason. We're a joke, and if lemonis isn't responsible point me to who is bc this is f'n embarrassing

[CaptainObvious]

I hope no one seriously brags about our finishing second in Homeruns. 55 solo HRs are of no more value than a bases loaded walk, or a double play ground ball that produces a run.

[CaptainObvious]

#106 in rpi. Next closest sec team is SC at #69. We were a top 10 team preseason. We're a joke, and if lemonis isn't responsible point me to who is bc this is f'n embarrassing

Yep. And they better hope State doesn?t find a way to make Hoover. Because even a victory on a Tuesday over the Dogs will likely hurt SC?s RPI for having to play them. This season is even more embarrassing to me that Sherrill?s 2001-2003 seasons or Croom?s 2008 season.

[Dawg2003]

Remember when we were saying that anyone could get us to the post season?

[BayouDawg]

Its very disappointing to see how this team just flat out quit.

[State82]

We're a joke, and if lemonis isn't responsible point me to who is bc this is f'n embarrassing.

The 1.2 million dollar man is holding this sack of shit. They should be ashamed to be wearing the M over S. You don't put on that uniform and 17ing quit. Damn it.

[ImissCityBagel]

We are bad.

[EdwardDrayton]

We are bad.

Two choices. #1 We are not good. #2 We quit. I can not bring myself to believe #2. Sooooooo

[CaptainObvious]

Meanwhile, Bianco has turned his team around.

[yjnkdawg]

Two choices. #1 We are not good. #2 We quit. I can not bring myself to believe #2. Sooooooo

Can't believe anybody thinks that our team quit. It's #1 and some of it coaching, coaching decisions and player evaluation. JMO

[TheLostDawg]

Can't believe anybody thinks that our team quit. It's #1 and some of it coaching, coaching decisions and player evaluation. JMO

Seems like Lemonis has consistently made every wrong move all year long. Some of its lack of depth but it's over and over again from consistently leaving pitchers in too long to who he puts in the field. Not all of this is lack of good players