Quote Originally Posted by engie View Post
^ insanity. So you think we are a coach away from being a perennial top 5 team? This coach can convince these NATIONAL kids to come here -- to a non-elite academic institution -- for 1/4 of the scholarship money -- and a future making half as much money on average if they get their degree and enter the real world -- not in Nashville or Florida -- but in Starkville, Ms -- and forego the first few rounds of MLB -- to pay 70% of their own way in school? Because we've got a bunch of drunks cooking them hamburgers and ringing bells in the outfield? Not just one or two of these kids -- but entire rosters made up of these elite kids like O'Sullivan has -- that have to fly over 3-4 much superior academic AND baseball institutions in order to come here?

Our fans can't tell the difference between non-traditional and non-elite -- and I'm not going to the trouble trying to explain it again. Literally took one SEC series to be back in the Fahr Coinz conversation. Our first true series loss on the year, by the way. Because that's what any talk of another coach entails. We ran into a buzz saw that got big hits in every situation this weekend. It happens in baseball. It's just funny that people only comment on the non-traditional when it fails. Not even noticing all of the times that it succeeds.

All while constantly moving the goalposts on what they think a season/team is and should be. How many of you called for this team to host in the preseason? Show of hands. That's what I thought. It's ahead of where 95% of you thought it would be. But Cohen only gets credit for setting it back -- not making it better? Sounds fair**
Exactly, UF sits right in the middle of probably the best baseball state in the country. Within 2 -3 hours of Gainsville you have Tampa, Orlando, Bradenton, Miami and a list of other great baseball hotbeds. That should be the easiest job in college baseball. You have a host of minor league teams and spring training facilities which also equates to more professional scouts in the area. As a player you have the option to stay 2-3 hours from home, play with the best talent college baseball has to offer, and be seen just about everytime you play. You also more than likely get to go to school for free if you have decent grades coming out of highschool. This isn't even bringing in the fact that some of the best JUCO baseball programs in the country are in Florida. You have Chipola, Santa Fe CC, Miami Dade JC, St. Johns River CC, and a host of others to pull a guy here and there from.
All of these also benefit Texas A and M with a huge talent pool to pull from and great JUCOS.
Yes, we have a decent JUCO system here but not near what Texas and Florida have to offer nor do we have the elite highschool talent comparable to Florida or Texas. We have a few kids every year that are draft guys but not the numbers necessary to fill an entire roster with.
It is going to take a good mix of guys for us to consistently be considered elite. All in all, I don't know if it is possible for us to field a World Series team every single year when we don't have the talent pool in our backyard to pull from. Everything is not Cohen's fault I assure you. Now getting swept in your backyard on Super Bulldog weekend does suck and should not happen often but A&M was hot and we did not play our best ball. We are still fairly young especially on the mound and we are going to have weekends where it doesn't click. We have to have quality starts from Hudson and Sexton every time they step on the mound against teams like that to have a chance to win the series.