Mike Rooney discusses the State job

[Todd4State]

We lost two full cycles of guys who would've been Bulldogs had we came off that policy. That policy allowed Bianco to get rolling because it got him guys like Seth Smith, Chris Coghlan, Stephen Head, Lance Lynn, Cody Satterwhite, Mark Holliman, and Matt Maloney. At least 3 of those guys WANTED to be Bulldogs and we wouldn't recruit them because they couldn't come to camp.

Bringing Polk back set our program back ten years. At that point he wasn't really trying to win NC's. He was much more focused on the scholarship situation than anything.

I remember Gene Swindoll posting Polk's 40 something page manifesto sometime in the 2000's.

[Todd4State]

Also- Rooney is talking about us being volatile. Let's not forget-we're basically a borderline postseason team at this moment despite the fact that we have been poorly managed.

We're in much better shape now than we were in 2008 when we only won something like 24 games the whole season. Lemonis only had one losing season here and we won 18 SEC games just a year ago. I'm not saying that he didn't underachieve. But we're not a complete dumpster fire at the moment either. I'm guessing we're going to win at least 30 games and I feel like the odds of us making the regionals are a little bit better now. Beyond that- we'll see what happens in the regionals if we get there.

The reality of the situation at the moment is we could make a really good hire and get right back to 2016-2021 levels of winning very quickly. We're really not that far from that at the moment as it is. How many 1 run losses do we have the past two season? Mostly because we didn't know when to take a pitcher out of the game. This team really should be a borderline host/National Seed rather than a borderline postseason team.

[Percho]

The lows are because Polk tried to burn the whole thing down in a hissy fit and Lemonis not being able to maintain what he inherited.

The only other down year was when Cohen built his entire team around the dead ball baseball and didn't even have any time to course correct. Ross Mitchell went from almost unhittable to throwing BP. 17 the NCAA for that year.

I loved that good RM year

[StarkVegasSteve]

Also- Rooney is talking about us being volatile. Let's not forget-we're basically a borderline postseason team at this moment despite the fact that we have been poorly managed.

We're in much better shape now than we were in 2008 when we only won something like 24 games the whole season. Lemonis only had one losing season here and we won 18 SEC games just a year ago. I'm not saying that he didn't underachieve. But we're not a complete dumpster fire at the moment either. I'm guessing we're going to win at least 30 games and I feel like the odds of us making the regionals are a little bit better now. Beyond that- we'll see what happens in the regionals if we get there.

The reality of the situation at the moment is we could make a really good hire and get right back to 2016-2021 levels of winning very quickly. We're really not that far from that at the moment as it is. How many 1 run losses do we have the past two season? Mostly because we didn't know when to take a pitcher out of the game. This team really should be a borderline host/National Seed rather than a borderline postseason team.

Rooney's point was solid. Maybe he made it in a roundabout way but it made a lot of sense. Just look at the last 15 years. 10 regionals, 7 supers, 4 CWS appearances, and a national championship. In that SAME time period we also have had 5 HCs now(3 full time and 2 interims) and 4 seasons where we didn't win 10 SEC games. Like our highs are really high but our lows aren't just barely missing the NCAAT, it's completely bottoming out and finshing last or next to last. We consider ourselves on the same playing field as LSU(which we are not), but LSU just doesn't have that volatility. EVER.

[Todd4State]

Rooney's point was solid. Maybe he made it in a roundabout way but it made a lot of sense. Just look at the last 15 years. 10 regionals, 7 supers, 4 CWS appearances, and a national championship. In that SAME time period we also have had 5 HCs now(3 full time and 2 interims) and 4 seasons where we didn't win 10 SEC games. Like our highs are really high but our lows aren't just barely missing the NCAAT, it's completely bottoming out and finshing last or next to last. We consider ourselves on the same playing field as LSU(which we are not), but LSU just doesn't have that volatility. EVER.

LSU handles their shit better. They don't bring back Skip Bertman years after he tried to retire twice. And if they did they wouldn't have an awkward situation where Skip demands that they hire so and so or he's basically going to burn the place down. When Bertman became AD he didn't hire an unqualified hitting coach with question marks that had been question marks for a long time but no one at MSU talked about it. I know Tulane baseball people and I wondered why they passed over Cann for Trent Jewett and they told me that Cann liked to run around. I had no idea it would completely distract him. And their AD doesn't get on a local show and basically tell everyone who they're hiring months before they can actually hire someone.

[Johnson85]

(2) Larry Templeton as the AD was like giving MSU athletics a tape-worm, hook-worm or slow death AIDS. He was like the parent that makes his A+ and Perfect ACT student kids work at his Blockbuster Video franchise. "Because it's the family business." Why go to Medical School or aspire to more, "I am part of Hollywood in this store".

But, the MSU fan base knew they dude was garbage. Thank goodness we got Greg Byrne.

Larry Templeton really does describe everything wrong with MSU athletics. He and Pete Boone should give each other handies every night for how they protected each other during their career. Basically convinced everybody that you couldn't be successful at MSU or Ole Miss and fans should just be content to be there and each of them used the others piss poor performance to justify theirs.

I'm not sure if having competent leadership during their tenures would really have us in a materially different position to handle NIL and free agency, but damn sure could have enjoyed the 2000's more.

[was21]

My gut feeling is that Polk is an albatross for a number of reasons I can't put my finger on. He should just disappear. Why does he still have an office in the athletic building? Is he an employee?

[Pancho]

No, but he will have that office until such time as he is in a casket

[Todd4State]

My gut feeling is that Polk is an albatross for a number of reasons I can't put my finger on. He should just disappear. Why does he still have an office in the athletic building? Is he an employee?

In 2008- yes. At this time? No.

He is basically an ambassador for MSU baseball which is what he should have been all along except that his behavior wouldn't allow it for several years which is his fault.

That's water under the bridge and any of our fans that can't let that be in the past just need to let it go.
Polk does very little with the team and doesn't even hang out in the dugout very much if at all. He mostly does public speaking appearances.

Most of the guys in his tree are out of the game completely at this time anyway so he has no feelings towards any of the candidates.