Just wondering how you all feel about both programs..??
The baseball program under new coach Tracy Smith is about where most preseason prognosticators had picked them but I thought they had a chance to do a little better, although that may have been unrealistic on my part, especially since they lack power and athleticism compared to many prior Sun Devil teams...
They have several very good pitchers and certainly enough pitching to excel, if the other part of the equation, namely the offense, was more productive, reliable and consistent...
TS only has a couple of his recruits on the team so this is Esmay's crew from top to bottom...there is some talent but not nearly enough to excel at a really high level so I'm not sure, given the many deficits, that TS could've done much more with this crew...
There are also some culture change issues that would face any new coach and his staff in a situation like this but I doubt any of those issues have carried over to the field much, if at all, because each player has their own motivation and they play as much for each other (band of brothers) as they do for the coaches and fans...at least that is my opinion since I played numerous sports in HS and that's the way I remember things...
Therefore, to me, in the baseball program, the only real issue relates to the overall level of talent on the field for the Sun Devils, which TS should be able to address and upgrade in the coming years...
Have I missed anything related to coaching per se..??
The softball program certainly has missed Clint Myers from a results standpoint as he never had less than about 45 wins in any given season and was almost always going to the CWS...he's not missing a beat at Auburn as he has taken a once lowly program and elevated it tremendously since arriving there...Auburn is on there way to a Super Regional while the Devils are not...
I want to give Craig Nicholson a fair chance since he is our coach and since his career record in the JC ranks and in the MAC are very impressive, plus he is only around 43, while Clint Myers is pressing 70 these days...the Devils showed some good flashes this season and played with a lot of heart most of the year but they didn't look at all like a Myers coached team, fair or not...
Mike Candrea, an ASU grad, who has won 8 national championships at AU, started coaching there when he was 30 and is now 60 and it took him 6-7 years to really elevate the Cats...Craig Nicholson is also young but can he elevate the Devils the way both CM elevated them and the way MC has elevated the Cats over the years..??
That's the million dollar question...do you think his best coaching days are ahead of him or not and why, and what are the issues he faces that have the most importance...talent, chemistry, mental approach, etc..??
I have an open mind on the matter but still scratch my head about Steve Patterson's decision to let Clint Myers go over a fairly small amount of money in the scope of Sun Devil athletics...you would think that with a coach that had already won two national championships for the Devils that we could not only give him a significant raise but hire both of his kids to coach at ASU, especially since a new coach was going to bring in their own staff as well...
Oh well, it's all water under the bridge now...I look forward to your feedback regarding both programs...
Championships or Bust...Go Devils!!!
The baseball program under new coach Tracy Smith is about where most preseason prognosticators had picked them but I thought they had a chance to do a little better, although that may have been unrealistic on my part, especially since they lack power and athleticism compared to many prior Sun Devil teams...
They have several very good pitchers and certainly enough pitching to excel, if the other part of the equation, namely the offense, was more productive, reliable and consistent...
TS only has a couple of his recruits on the team so this is Esmay's crew from top to bottom...there is some talent but not nearly enough to excel at a really high level so I'm not sure, given the many deficits, that TS could've done much more with this crew...
There are also some culture change issues that would face any new coach and his staff in a situation like this but I doubt any of those issues have carried over to the field much, if at all, because each player has their own motivation and they play as much for each other (band of brothers) as they do for the coaches and fans...at least that is my opinion since I played numerous sports in HS and that's the way I remember things...
Therefore, to me, in the baseball program, the only real issue relates to the overall level of talent on the field for the Sun Devils, which TS should be able to address and upgrade in the coming years...
Have I missed anything related to coaching per se..??
The softball program certainly has missed Clint Myers from a results standpoint as he never had less than about 45 wins in any given season and was almost always going to the CWS...he's not missing a beat at Auburn as he has taken a once lowly program and elevated it tremendously since arriving there...Auburn is on there way to a Super Regional while the Devils are not...
I want to give Craig Nicholson a fair chance since he is our coach and since his career record in the JC ranks and in the MAC are very impressive, plus he is only around 43, while Clint Myers is pressing 70 these days...the Devils showed some good flashes this season and played with a lot of heart most of the year but they didn't look at all like a Myers coached team, fair or not...
Mike Candrea, an ASU grad, who has won 8 national championships at AU, started coaching there when he was 30 and is now 60 and it took him 6-7 years to really elevate the Cats...Craig Nicholson is also young but can he elevate the Devils the way both CM elevated them and the way MC has elevated the Cats over the years..??
That's the million dollar question...do you think his best coaching days are ahead of him or not and why, and what are the issues he faces that have the most importance...talent, chemistry, mental approach, etc..??
I have an open mind on the matter but still scratch my head about Steve Patterson's decision to let Clint Myers go over a fairly small amount of money in the scope of Sun Devil athletics...you would think that with a coach that had already won two national championships for the Devils that we could not only give him a significant raise but hire both of his kids to coach at ASU, especially since a new coach was going to bring in their own staff as well...
Oh well, it's all water under the bridge now...I look forward to your feedback regarding both programs...
Championships or Bust...Go Devils!!!
