Our current state

[Charleston Tiger 134]

Jay Jacobs has a ceiling when tasked with searching, evaluating, and hiring a head coach, period. Auburn Athletics as a whole will never "shoot for the stars" and grab one as long as JJ is in charge. He just can not hire a big time/big name coach. Our athletic programs have been unstable for far too long, and have become inconsistant to non-existant in some cases lately.

The facilities are there, the fan support is there, the money is there, the advertising/marketing/exposure is there. I can't find one excuse why Auburn University can't compete at the level that our other SEC brothers are consistantly competing at today.

Auburn is a special place, and true Family atmosphere we are all proud to be a part of - I just can not bring myself to stop purchasing my season tickets or to stop taking my family to sporting events, patronizing the local buisnesses when I'm in town, and being present to watch live sporting events. Cheering and encouraging Auburn athletics has been a part of my life since I was a kid at home with mom & dad. It's a tradition that am trying to hand down to my kids. It's just a part of my life that I will never give up.

If Carolina can get Frank Martin to come coach their excuse for a basketball team, even JJ can get a big name coach to come. His problem is he would rather spend moderately, then provide unnecessary and unwarranted extensions locking us in.

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

I was just trying to say that many of Auburn's problems are self made. If we can't recruit in the AAU (due to a ban we placed on ourselves), then we won't have access to more players. JJ hired coaches that would "turn around the programs," and they simply have not had the qualifications to do so. It is a sad state of affairs that does not have an immediate fix. The situation at hand is that Auburn simply does not have the money to get new coaches.

All of the above assertions are completely false, excepting the statement with regard to the coaches not having the qualifications to be successful. There are no self imposed recruiting bans in baseball. We have access to every high school and junior college player on the planet. The situation is not sad, it's infuriating but it does have an immediate fix. Auburn has more than enough money in the athletic coffers to hire a new and successful (current Samford) coach.

Ditto! There's plenty of money to buy out any and all coaches that we'd care to buy out and to replace them with new coaches. A percentage of income every year is placed in a separate account just for buyout contingencies and that pot has plenty in it. Also, how the fiction got started that we're somehow self imposing recruiting restrictions in baseball is beyond me. There's no such restrictions on baseball recruiting.

The AAU basketball restriction is that we can't recruit through ONE AAU coach, that's Mark Komara in Huntsville. We can still recruit players on his team, we just have to go through their high school coaches instead of Komara. Hardly the back-breaker that the excuse makers claim it to be.

Unless things have changed there are "restrictions" in baseball recruiting, namely we only give so many full baseball schollys while other schools give more. As a consequence we only give half schollys in order to get more players. I don't remember why this is but we lose good players to schools like Georgia and Clemson for example.

[PowerOfDixieland 3,226]

Unless things have changed there are "restrictions" in baseball recruiting, namely we only give so many full baseball schollys while other schools give more. As a consequence we only give half schollys in order to get more players. I don't remember why this is but we lose good players to schools like Georgia and Clemson for example.

All NCAA division one baseball programs have 11.7 scholarships (or monetary equivalent) to divide however they like. The change came in 2009-2010 when the NCAA capped the number of counters that could receive a portion of scholarship money at 27. The fuzzy part is the assertion that private universities and lottery funded education scholarship associated state schools have some sort of advantage over those institutions that aren't/don't (eg. Auburn). The fact is this is NOT TRUE. Those monies cannot be funneled to athletes to the exclusion of non-student athletes. Pepperdine University was sanctioned for doing exactly that in a number of sports, including baseball http://www.ncaa.org/...hletics program. The idea that Auburn baseball is at some sort of financial disadvantage, just isn't accurate. We lose GREAT players to the MLB draft and shouldn't be wishing upon a star in hopes of getting those guys in the first place.

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

I disagree. The NCAA says the minimum scholly a player can receive is 1/3 of a full scholly. And the states with lotteries supporting education definitely have an advantage. The SEC schools benefitting from this include, at least, Georgia, Sc, and LSU. Guys are simply given a full academic schollys and go out for baseball. They do count toward the 27 player limit but that gives other school a big advantage. We have lost some great players who got full schollys at other schools where we were only offering 1/2. One I know personally is Jimmy Key who grew up a big Auburn family in a huge Auburn family. Auburn only offered him 1/2 but Clemson gave him a full ride. In case you don't remember him, he went on to win two Cy Young awards, one with the Yankees and one with the Blue Jays.

[PowerOfDixieland 3,226]

One I know personally is Jimmy Key who grew up a big Auburn family in a huge Auburn family. Auburn only offered him 1/2 but Clemson gave him a full ride. In case you don't remember him, he went on to win two Cy Young awards, one with the Yankees and one with the Blue Jays.

That was over thirty years ago. The education lottery of the southern states was still ten years off when Key was at Clemson.

In today's (modern?) NCAA, athletes CAN NOT be given preferential status in obtaining scholarship money due to non-academic ability. From the NCAA website on the Pepperdine (baseball, et al) violations:

From 2007-08, the university’s financial aid office “prioritized” students demonstrating particular gifts or talents when awarding non-athletic scholarships. Athletics participation was one of the factors considered to be a gift or talent, so the scholarships awarded should have been, but were not, counted toward team scholarship totals.

The lottery/private endowment advantage excuse is just that. We've beaten that horse to death and need to come up with some other excuse for why Auburn baseball can't compete in the SEC. First place I'd start is with the AD.

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

One I know personally is Jimmy Key who grew up a big Auburn family in a huge Auburn family. Auburn only offered him 1/2 but Clemson gave him a full ride. In case you don't remember him, he went on to win two Cy Young awards, one with the Yankees and one with the Blue Jays.

That was over thirty years ago. The education lottery of the southern states was still ten years off when Key was at Clemson.

In today's (modern?) NCAA, athletes CAN NOT be given preferential status in obtaining scholarship money due to non-academic ability. From the NCAA website on the Pepperdine (baseball, et al) violations:

From 2007-08, the university’s financial aid office “prioritized” students demonstrating particular gifts or talents when awarding non-athletic scholarships. Athletics participation was one of the factors considered to be a gift or talent, so the scholarships awarded should have been, but were not, counted toward team scholarship totals.

The lottery/private endowment advantage excuse is just that. We've beaten that horse to death and need to come up with some other excuse for why Auburn baseball can't compete in the SEC. First place I'd start is with the AD.

Well I will just leave it to you to explain why schools like Georgia have guys on their baseball team who are attending school under Hope schollys. How is that treating students and athletes different. Regular students get Hope schollys too

[Mikey 16,581]

Those schools can only give academic scholarships to players that qualify for academic scholarships. Auburn can do the same.

Georgia, Florida and Tennessee all have lottery money that allegedly helps them with baseball. They are all at the bottom of the SEC east. UAT with no lottery money is in second place in the SEC west. The "Lottery Money is a big help" excuse simply doesn't hold water when exposed to the light of day.

If those guys qualify for an academic scholarship at one of those schools, they'll qualify at Auburn.

PS: Jimmy Key never won a Cy Young award. He finished second in 1987 and 1994. Now, Key was recruited to Clemson in 1979. I can't find any indication that South Carolina had a lottery based college scholarship program before 1995. Do you suggest that the NCAA recruiting and scholarship rules and South Carolina lottery have remained unchanged since the 1970's?

[Proud Tiger 4,261]

Those schools can only give academic scholarships to players that qualify for academic scholarships. Auburn can do the same.

Georgia, Florida and Tennessee all have lottery money that allegedly helps them with baseball. They are all at the bottom of the SEC east. UAT with no lottery money is in second place in the SEC west. The "Lottery Money is a big help" excuse simply doesn't hold water when exposed to the light of day.

If those guys qualify for an academic scholarship at one of those schools, they'll qualify at Auburn.

PS: Jimmy Key never won a Cy Young award. He finished second in 1987 and 1994. Now, Key was recruited to Clemson in 1979. I can't find any indication that South Carolina had a lottery based college scholarship program before 1995. Do you suggest that the NCAA recruiting and scholarship rules and South Carolina lottery have remained unchanged since the 1970's?

First off, the point is we lost a great player from an Auburn family to Clemson because we only offered 1/2 scholly and they gave him a full boat. If other schools can take advantage of academic schollys then why don't we? Why not give full schollys to some really good players and give academic schollys to others who are content with that and want to play baseball and still stay within the player total limit? Something is not making sense here.

[PowerOfDixieland 3,226]

Something is not making sense here.

My nomination for understatement of the year.

[Mikey 16,581]

Our current state as of 4/8/2012.

After a successful trip to Texas A&M, we are 3-9 in the SEC. There's something about that 3-9 that seems all too familiar....Why YES, I've got it now!

Recently we had a football coach. In 2010 that coach found himself with a team loaded with talent. He managed that talent well and guided them to a national championship. Couple of years later, his team finished 3-9 and that coach was fired.

In baseball we have a coach that found himself with a team loaded with talent in 2010. (That's the same year the football coach's team won a national championship) The baseball coach won, well, nothing. His team was composed of the best hitting team, both for average and power, in the history of Auburn baseball. That team had more players selected in the pro baseball draft than any team in the history of Auburn baseball. Yet that coach couldn't win the SEC championship with that outstanding talent and didn't even win the NCAA regional that was hosted on our own field.

A rational person would ask, "When was that baseball coach fired?" The answer is that he's still on the job and there are some here that seem to think that everything with Auburn baseball is just dandy. Even though he's had five years and is currently 3-9, "give him time" is their mantra.

To them I would ask, when will Pawloski have a team with more talent than the team he failed with in 2010? He certainly doesn't recruit that well year to year.

If he couldn't win something meaningful with that team, what will it take for him to win?

Finally, why is it acceptable for Auburn baseball to be mediocre? I hold AU baseball to the same standards I hold our other teams to. We should be making every effort to challenge for championships. I do not think it's acceptable for AU baseball to be 3-9 in the conference. Why some think 3-9 perfectly ok is beyond my understanding.

[wareagle13 88]

Our current state as of 4/8/2012.

After a successful trip to Texas A&M, we are 3-9 in the SEC. There's something about that 3-9 that seems all too familiar....Why YES, I've got it now!

Recently we had a football coach. In 2010 that coach found himself with a team loaded with talent. He managed that talent well and guided them to a national championship. Couple of years later, his team finished 3-9 and that coach was fired.

In baseball we have a coach that found himself with a team loaded with talent in 2010. (That's the same year the football coach's team won a national championship) The baseball coach won, well, nothing. His team was composed of the best hitting team, both for average and power, in the history of Auburn baseball. That team had more players selected in the pro baseball draft than any team in the history of Auburn baseball. Yet that coach couldn't win the SEC championship with that outstanding talent and didn't even win the NCAA regional that was hosted on our own field.

A rational person would ask, "When was that baseball coach fired?" The answer is that he's still on the job and there are some here that seem to think that everything with Auburn baseball is just dandy. Even though he's had five years and is currently 3-9, "give him time" is their mantra.

To them I would ask, when will Pawloski have a team with more talent than the team he failed with in 2010? He certainly doesn't recruit that well year to year.

If he couldn't win something meaningful with that team, what will it take for him to win?

Finally, why is it acceptable for Auburn baseball to be mediocre? I hold AU baseball to the same standards I hold our other teams to. We should be making every effort to challenge for championships. I do not think it's acceptable for AU baseball to be 3-9 in the conference. Why some think 3-9 perfectly ok is beyond my understanding.

Am i happy with where auburn baseball is right now? No, but holy damn. The only truly bad thing i can see this season was dropping the series at bama. Our two other series losses in the sec were to the number one and number two teams in the nation which are both currently 11-1 in the sec with series sweeps over several top 15 teams each. Both are top three in the RPI. Get over yourself.

[Mikey 16,581]

Our current state as of 4/8/2012.

After a successful trip to Texas A&M, we are 3-9 in the SEC. There's something about that 3-9 that seems all too familiar....Why YES, I've got it now!

Recently we had a football coach. In 2010 that coach found himself with a team loaded with talent. He managed that talent well and guided them to a national championship. Couple of years later, his team finished 3-9 and that coach was fired.

In baseball we have a coach that found himself with a team loaded with talent in 2010. (That's the same year the football coach's team won a national championship) The baseball coach won, well, nothing. His team was composed of the best hitting team, both for average and power, in the history of Auburn baseball. That team had more players selected in the pro baseball draft than any team in the history of Auburn baseball. Yet that coach couldn't win the SEC championship with that outstanding talent and didn't even win the NCAA regional that was hosted on our own field.

A rational person would ask, "When was that baseball coach fired?" The answer is that he's still on the job and there are some here that seem to think that everything with Auburn baseball is just dandy. Even though he's had five years and is currently 3-9, "give him time" is their mantra.

To them I would ask, when will Pawloski have a team with more talent than the team he failed with in 2010? He certainly doesn't recruit that well year to year.

If he couldn't win something meaningful with that team, what will it take for him to win?

Finally, why is it acceptable for Auburn baseball to be mediocre? I hold AU baseball to the same standards I hold our other teams to. We should be making every effort to challenge for championships. I do not think it's acceptable for AU baseball to be 3-9 in the conference. Why some think 3-9 perfectly ok is beyond my understanding.

Am i happy with where auburn baseball is right now? No, but holy damn. The only truly bad thing i can see this season was dropping the series at bama. Our two other series losses in the sec were to the number one and number two teams in the nation which are both currently 11-1 in the sec with series sweeps over several top 15 teams each. Both are top three in the RPI. Get over yourself.

While I'm getting over myself, how about you take a realistic look at the "current state of Auburn baseball". Earlier this season, 7 of the top 12 ranked teams were from the SEC. We were not one of them. Why not? Our coach has had five years to get us there, instead we were the pre-season pick to finish last in the SEC West and that's exactly where we are today.

While pre-season picks don't always pan out, what they show is the level of respect a given team has earned in prior years. We have no respect because we've earned none. Pre-season picks also indicate what those that follow the sport for a living expect a team to be capable of. They expected us to be capable of little and to date they are spot-on. It's past time for a change.

[PowerOfDixieland 3,226]

At least they've shown a pulse over the last five conference games. I believe the next four weekends (still not sure about them Gators yet) will tell the tale on this team. Twelve very win-able games against four fellow bottom dwellers that are a combined 15-33 and none really even close to .500 in conference. 9 or 10 wins over that stretch would put them in position to finish with a chance to get to even in conference. I still contend that will get them into "real" post season play.

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

Our current state as of 4/8/2012.

After a successful trip to Texas A&M, we are 3-9 in the SEC. There's something about that 3-9 that seems all too familiar....Why YES, I've got it now!

Recently we had a football coach. In 2010 that coach found himself with a team loaded with talent. He managed that talent well and guided them to a national championship. Couple of years later, his team finished 3-9 and that coach was fired.

In baseball we have a coach that found himself with a team loaded with talent in 2010. (That's the same year the football coach's team won a national championship) The baseball coach won, well, nothing. His team was composed of the best hitting team, both for average and power, in the history of Auburn baseball. That team had more players selected in the pro baseball draft than any team in the history of Auburn baseball. Yet that coach couldn't win the SEC championship with that outstanding talent and didn't even win the NCAA regional that was hosted on our own field.

A rational person would ask, "When was that baseball coach fired?" The answer is that he's still on the job and there are some here that seem to think that everything with Auburn baseball is just dandy. Even though he's had five years and is currently 3-9, "give him time" is their mantra.

To them I would ask, when will Pawloski have a team with more talent than the team he failed with in 2010? He certainly doesn't recruit that well year to year.

If he couldn't win something meaningful with that team, what will it take for him to win?

Finally, why is it acceptable for Auburn baseball to be mediocre? I hold AU baseball to the same standards I hold our other teams to. We should be making every effort to challenge for championships. I do not think it's acceptable for AU baseball to be 3-9 in the conference. Why some think 3-9 perfectly ok is beyond my understanding.

Am i happy with where auburn baseball is right now? No, but holy damn. The only truly bad thing i can see this season was dropping the series at bama. Our two other series losses in the sec were to the number one and number two teams in the nation which are both currently 11-1 in the sec with series sweeps over several top 15 teams each. Both are top three in the RPI. Get over yourself.

While I'm getting over myself, how about you take a realistic look at the "current state of Auburn baseball". Earlier this season, 7 of the top 12 ranked teams were from the SEC. We were not one of them. Why not? Our coach has had five years to get us there, instead we were the pre-season pick to finish last in the SEC West and that's exactly where we are today.

While pre-season picks don't always pan out, what they show is the level of respect a given team has earned in prior years. We have no respect because we've earned none. Pre-season picks also indicate what those that follow the sport for a living expect a team to be capable of. They expected us to be capable of little and to date they are spot-on. It's past time for a change.

While we do have that 3-9 record and have not shown much in 5 years, I think a lot of people are just happy that we have shown any sort of life; taking a series from a nationally ranked team on the road is always a good sign, and with a strong finish in the SEC (winning the rest of our series and sweeping 1 or 2- I hope we can do something against miss st) we can set ourselves up well; it's just optimism that these people want to have. They're tired of losing so they're looking for ways to say "hey we've got a chance..." Only time will tell

[Mikey 16,581]

My question is, "What will time tell us that we don't already know from watching the prior 4 & 1/2 seasons?" There's been no infusion of talent that would make us competitive with teams in the top half of the SEC. No change in coaching decisions that kill the opportunity for big innings. What makes anybody think this program is headed in a different direction from where it's been in recent years?

[PowerOfDixieland 3,226]

Vanderbilt is 32-4 and LSU is 33-3. Streaks, right?

[PowerOfDixieland 3,226]

Took two out of three from UGa and dropped to 55th in the RPI rankings this week.

http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/baseball/d1

As it stands right now, Arkansas could/would be the tenth SEC team in the NCAA field. With five conference series remaining, and all but Mizzou ahead of us in those rankings, a 10-5 mark has got to be the goal.

[AU64 10,122]

Need at least one win against MSU this weekend.

[Mikey 16,581]

Need at least one win against MSU this weekend.

To finish at .500 in the conference, we have to average winning two of three every series. Taking only one from MSU means we'd have to get a sweep somewhere to make it up. Since we failed to sweep the league's worst team (UGA) at Plainsman Park, I don't see us sweeping anybody.

[penguin149 391]

Yeah, but next year.....just wait, we'll be right in the middle of things!!! There's nothing we can't accomplish.....next year

[AU64 10,122]

Need at least one win against MSU this weekend.

To finish at .500 in the conference, we have to average winning two of three every series. Taking only one from MSU means we'd have to get a sweep somewhere to make it up. Since we failed to sweep the league's worst team (UGA) at Plainsman Park, I don't see us sweeping anybody.

Can't disagree but to sweep the #8 nationally ranked team on the road? or even take 2 of 3. That's a tall order considering MSU has won 6 of their last 7 SEC games. We will know more in a while.

[80Tiger 899]

Referring back to the title of thread "current state of program", I would think an indicator would be interest level. I have noticed a drop in how many people are tracking a game here at this site. A game thread may only be a page or two now. Those that are able to attend, what is going on with attendance? Is it staying the same or has it dropped?

[AU64 10,122]

Referring back to the title of thread "current state of program", I would think an indicator would be interest level. I have noticed a drop in how many people are tracking a game here at this site. A game thread may only be a page or two now. Those that are able to attend, what is going on with attendance? Is it staying the same or has it dropped?

Good question...when I've seen the games on TV the crowds look sparse but some have been during bad weather. On the other hand, during one game a couple weeks ago I commented here about the poor crowd only to later hear one of the announcers comment about the good turnout so . One thing for certain we don't have anywhere near the fan support of the other SEC west teams....where 8-10,000 for a game is not unusual.....larger seating capacity and just a stronger fan base that follows them on the road like football. I checked attendance in a few of the box scores and seems crowds are in the 3000-4000 range which is not that far from capacity.

[PowerOfDixieland 3,226]

Official statistics through 4/14/13:

Total (home) attendance: 64,533

Average attendance: 2,688

National rank (by avg.): 18

SEC rank: 9

Plainsman Park official seating capacity is just under 4,100

LSU, Arkansas, Ole Miss, South Carolina and Mississippi State are 1-5 (respectively) nationally. LSU averages close to 11,000 per game. Bammer averages 3,100. Vanderbilt, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Missouri (in order) follow us.

[AU64 10,122]

Official statistics through 4/14/13:

Total (home) attendance: 64,533

Average attendance: 2,688

National rank (by avg.): 18

SEC rank: 9

Plainsman Park official seating capacity is just under 4,100

LSU, Arkansas, Ole Miss, South Carolina and Mississippi State are 1-5 (respectively) nationally. LSU averages close to 11,000 per game. Bammer averages 3,100. Vanderbilt, Georgia, Kentucky, Tennessee and Missouri (in order) follow us.

Thanks...good info. When the park was overhauled some years ago I think we were in to top handful as far as capacity but most of the SEC west has enlarged or replaced their facilities.