softball team

[aubiefifty 16,705]

so what is the general consensus regarding our new head coach? how would you guys rate him? is he going to be a good one? i think we have tons of talent and i know we might not be as good as last year and i have been remodeling the house for a while so i have not had time to keep up with everything. i would just like to know folks opinions and this certainly is not a thread to start bashing. i know we are 15th right now and that is decent but it seems we might have lost something from last year. will the new coach have to get "his players" in like a lot of new coaches say. any input is appreciated.

[Hspoprn 199]

Too soon to tell. Dean came into a difficult situation in some ways, but he also inherited a TON of talent at Auburn. He has made some coaching mistakes, particularly with base-runners and allowing players to hit away when they should have been taking pitches that were outside the strike zone. He is supposedly a premier pitching coach, but doesn't appear to be very capable in coaching the other aspects of the game. Hopefully he will find a hitting coach during the off-season. He may be super successful at Auburn, but I am taking a wait and see approach. 

 Not many coaches are in Clint Myers league. Hard act to follow.

[OlderWhiskey 953]

Like Hspoprn, I am waiting another year to form a judgment.  I've had some issues with his game management, but liked that he allowed Draper and others to steal more bases.  to his credit,  he hired one of the best hitting coaches in the business (Glassco), only to see him leave for a HC job two months later.  And he was hired late himself.  So I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt, and we'll see what he does next year.

[AU64 10,122]

53 minutes ago, aubiefifty said:

will the new coach have to get "his players" in like a lot of new coaches say. any input is appreciated.

Boy I hope nobody says that.....as noted, he was left a ton of talent...came to a program primed to succeed....rabid fans, two outstanding pitchers and good players and depth.    Like others, I'm gonna give him somewhat of a pass on the hitting after losing his coach...and give credit for turning Draper loose.  

The players are there and he needs to adjust to the SEC .....but next season should be a step up...no need to wait on "his" players to win in this league....and 15th is not gonna cut it another year JMO 

[AUGoo 2,659]

Never know.  I would have said that about AU Swimming.

The AD didn't have a problem watching the Swim and Dive program slide for a decade.

[boomstick 1,315]

For the situation and roster he inherited, I like what he’s done. He needs to find some hitting talent because I think we’re a little deficient there, but he helped improve this already excellent pitching staff. The whole hitting coach situation was a bad deal all around. Not sure if he will look to hire another hitting coach in the offseason or give the current guy another year. 

Probably need to find a couple players on the transfer market to improve the offense.

All in all, I think Dean can pick up right where Myers left off, but he has to make some improvements. 

[AUBwins 10,064]

2 hours ago, OlderWhiskey said:

he hired one of the best hitting coaches in the business (Glassco),

Glassco has been successful at ULL. He deserves coach of the year according to play by play man for the Cajuns who has quality softball knowledge, but likely won't because of the consistency of the program in the past. They are also finishing 2nd during regular season. I bet they win the tourney again.  

Point is he seems to know what he is doing. I wish these girls had his tutelage this year. 

[AU64 10,122]

1 hour ago, AUGoo said:

Never know.  I would have said that about AU Swimming.

The AD didn't have a problem watching the Swim and Dive program slide for a decade.

JMO but this was a non-revenue sport...and even in college, money talks. ....and if the big donors and PTBs weren't pushing it, I expect that was OK.  

We have 22 sports (maybe more) and the average AU fan has no idea what is going on except in the big 3....or maybe 4.    As for softball however, the school invested money in the programs, built a nice facility, hired a top coach and the PTBs and Athletic Department are going to want that money "repaid".....JMO

[steeleagle 2,945]

14 hours ago, AU64 said:

JMO but this was a non-revenue sport...and even in college, money talks. ....and if the big donors and PTBs weren't pushing it, I expect that was OK.  

We have 22 sports (maybe more) and the average AU fan has no idea what is going on except in the big 3....or maybe 4.    As for softball however, the school invested money in the programs, built a nice facility, hired a top coach and the PTBs and Athletic Department are going to want that money "repaid".....JMO

I think softball and baseball can be a money making sport, but it takes a consistent winning team that goes deep into the NCAAs for that to work. Meyers built a fan base with the excitement of the softball teams he managed. Now Dean must maintain that part, with keeping them winning.

On the success of the team.

It is hard to believe that this team is last or next to last in hitting, even though they lost some very good offensive players the last two years. Losing Wallace, cost them some offense and definitely some veteran leadership. 

So while I expected better offense, I am going to give them a wait and see approach, due to the turmoil Dean inherited, having to bring in a second hitting coach, and losing their best hitters to grad and transfer. 

But I am concerned that the role players from last year, were so inconsistent this year(Veach, Rivera), and some of the FR from last year didn't step up(Perry). Our RISP was very poor. We just didn't seem to have that good singles hitter that could hit for average, get on base,etc.

It will be interesting to see what adjustments Dean makes with staffing, current players for next year, and how well he recruits offensive players.

[all4AU 379]

2 hours ago, steeleagle said:

I think softball and baseball can be a money making sport, but it takes a consistent winning team that goes deep into the NCAAs for that to work. Meyers built a fan base with the excitement of the softball teams he managed. Now Dean must maintain that part, with keeping them winning.

On the success of the team.

It is hard to believe that this team is last or next to last in hitting, even though they lost some very good offensive players the last two years. Losing Wallace, cost them some offense and definitely some veteran leadership. 

So while I expected better offense, I am going to give them a wait and see approach, due to the turmoil Dean inherited, having to bring in a second hitting coach, and losing their best hitters to grad and transfer. 

But I am concerned that the role players from last year, were so inconsistent this year(Veach, Rivera), and some of the FR from last year didn't step up(Perry). Our RISP was very poor. We just didn't seem to have that good singles hitter that could hit for average, get on base,etc.

It will be interesting to see what adjustments Dean makes with staffing, current players for next year, and how well he recruits offensive players.

I think the team can definitely draw some money from tickets and concessions with the crowds we have, but let's be real... they will still come out in the red and not the black by season's end. Tickets are cheap so the revenue from them isn't that great, and it takes a lot of money to fly a whole softball team and staff to Palm Springs for a week. And, you won't have the big tv contracts and bowl payouts like in football. 

[AU64 10,122]

17 hours ago, AU64 said:

JMO but this was a non-revenue sport...and even in college, money talks. ....and if the big donors and PTBs weren't pushing it, I expect that was OK.

In this comment I was referring to swimming program that was mentioned in the comment above.....just noting that there was no way the S and D programs were going to be self sufficient, thus likely nobody much among the PTBs cared about the gradual decline while it was going on as long as we were respectable.

But as All4AU  noted....softball and baseball have the potential to support themselves if the programs are strong enough to generate gate and TV revenue....and as for softball, now that the investment has been made,  I'm thinking the expectations have increased accordingly. 

[BJCrawford 1,568]

Does anyone here know how the players like the coach? 

[Mikey 16,550]

23 hours ago, aubiefifty said:

so what is the general consensus regarding our new head coach? how would you guys rate him? is he going to be a good one? i think we have tons of talent and i know we might not be as good as last year and i have been remodeling the house for a while so i have not had time to keep up with everything. i would just like to know folks opinions and this certainly is not a thread to start bashing. i know we are 15th right now and that is decent but it seems we might have lost something from last year. will the new coach have to get "his players" in like a lot of new coaches say. any input is appreciated.

I'll be very brief. Coach Meyers was a miracle worker, Coach Dean is not.

[steeleagle 2,945]

45 minutes ago, Mikey said:

I'll be very brief. Coach Meyers was a miracle worker, Coach Dean is not.

Meyers, yes., miracle worker on the field. Off the field, a disaster that he didnt handle well at all.

And the team batting avg was .229 in the SEC last year, and this year it was .211. The hitting slide started last year and hit rock bottom this year. 

[saminbama 740]

I think the difference in hitting this year as opposed to last year was Carlee Wallace.  So many times she had a big hit in clutch situations and nobody has replaced her.  I'm concerned about the pitching for next year.  Carlson will be gone and if Martin returns, she has to develop another pitch.  The other pitchers need a lot of development before they can be top guns in the SEC.  Our defense has been good this year, so that isn't an issue.  For a slapper, Vic was very predictable this year.  Instead of trying to beat the ball into the ground and outrun it, all she did was try to hit past the 3rd baseman, with little success.  The infielders in this league are too good for that strategy.  I wish she would have stood in the box and swung away some more.  Anything to keep the defense on their toes.  Meanwhile Florida rolls on.  They showed the softball team at the Cardinals/Twins game last night in St Louis.  Stopped on their way to Columbia for the SEC Tournament.  Money grows on trees down there.

[Mikey 16,550]

1 hour ago, steeleagle said:

Meyers, yes., miracle worker on the field. Off the field, a disaster that he didnt handle well at all.

And the team batting avg was .229 in the SEC last year, and this year it was .211. The hitting slide started last year and hit rock bottom this year. 

Look at this team where it was before Meyers came and look at where he had it in just one year. Then check out his years that followed. In a lifetime of watching and coaching sports, I've never seen a turnaround like that. He worked a miracle at Auburn. Off the field stuff is an entirely different subject.

[all4AU 379]

4 hours ago, saminbama said:

I think the difference in hitting this year as opposed to last year was Carlee Wallace.  So many times she had a big hit in clutch situations and nobody has replaced her.  I'm concerned about the pitching for next year.  Carlson will be gone and if Martin returns, she has to develop another pitch.  The other pitchers need a lot of development before they can be top guns in the SEC.  Our defense has been good this year, so that isn't an issue.  For a slapper, Vic was very predictable this year.  Instead of trying to beat the ball into the ground and outrun it, all she did was try to hit past the 3rd baseman, with little success.  The infielders in this league are too good for that strategy.  I wish she would have stood in the box and swung away some more.  Anything to keep the defense on their toes.  Meanwhile Florida rolls on.  They showed the softball team at the Cardinals/Twins game last night in St Louis.  Stopped on their way to Columbia for the SEC Tournament.  Money grows on trees down there.

Florida played at Mizzou last weekend so instead of flying back to Gainesville, they actually stayed in Missouri. I’m sure they wanted to enjoy their week long stay so good for them! 

[steeleagle 2,945]

17 hours ago, Mikey said:

Look at this team where it was before Meyers came and look at where he had it in just one year. Then check out his years that followed. In a lifetime of watching and coaching sports, I've never seen a turnaround like that. He worked a miracle at Auburn. Off the field stuff is an entirely different subject.

Oh I agree his first 3 years(2014-2016) were lightning in a bottle, and jump started a talented team, that the prior coach never could get them to the next level. But that team dropped 60 points in avg in 2017. 2018 was terrible for hitting. We will see next year if it was just a drop in talent, or if Dean needs to do a better job of instilling a hitting style that works and is productive. It just seems strange so many of the players had off years, or didn't improve.

In 2015 they hit in SEC play .329 *excellent).

in 2016  .289

in 2017 .228

in 2018 .211