Big Fat Barner

This is a questionable get in my opinion. He did not succeed at Coastal Carolina but now he is good enough to compete in the SEC after a year in the MAC? i trust Butch, Karl and Gabe, but I think there are way bigger fish in the portal that we could try to persuade to come play for us.

Yes. I do not get this. I know they are all friends but the transfer would basically be saying “hey i know i quit on y’all, but i decided to come back once nobody else offered me more money”

Dean would have be dumb to be uninterested in the following portal players. I guess my opinion on Dean in the portal is that he picks up a player each year, but can never get the big fish (or even the medium fish) to buy into the auburn softball program. I look at someone like Courtney Deifil who somehow manages to get a plethora of GOOD transfers to go to ARKANSAS, a team who historically, isn’t better than auburn. I just think Dean isn’t cut out for the portal life as a coach. Which is a problem.

Dean has picked up 7 people from the portal in his 6 years at Auburn. 4 of them pitched. Only 2 of them came from power five teams. And only 1 of them have held a batting average over .300. 7 in 6 years doesn’t scream “fond of the portal.” I have sent money to OTV for softball!!😭 hoping it will bring in some transfers. But let’s be totally real: I understand these are student-athletes, but Dean has to treat this team like he is their coach and not their friend/father. There are a multitude of players on the team who have practically no impact in our success. There are people out in the portal that can help us WIN. that should be the upmost importance for Dean. If that means bringing in transfers and giving them scholarships thus taking away scholarships from the pinch runners, backups, and struggling starters, so be it. This is why Gasso succeeds, she treats it like a business Need I remind you of the returners’ statline: (conference/overall) Peralta - (.299/.329) 🐐 Packer - (.240/.307) McCrary - (.222/.260) Tresvik - (.173/.234) Lisenby - (.278/.234) Roach - (.214/.245) Everyone else hits .000 in conference (except Roberts/Cox - both .250 in four ABs). I love all of these girls, but we need hitters. Period.

There are sooo many quality catchers in the portal, so I think we could even pull off getting one from a power five (but I don’t think Dean will because he isn’t very fond of the portal😒). I am not sure what the reply above is implying, but you cannot succeed in college softball without utilizing the transfer portal; while “doubling down” on incoming freshmen and the backups from last season is easy to say, it is not easy to do. And it has honestly what Dean has done in his tenure at Auburn and it obviously has not work. The portal is the future of this sport, unfortunately. I don’t understand the lack of urgency behind Dean, he needs to be focusing solely on next year’s team in my opinion.

I really really would like to pick up at least three transfers this offseason. There is a ton of talent in the portal and I think it would be great to pick up a catcher, an infielder (or two) and an outfielder. This is Penta and Lowe’s last season, we need some transfers to contend. Please do not let Dean whiff on the portal again this offseason.

It would be a gift from God if we can land some of the transfers mentioned, but highly doubt Dean pursues any of them very hard, he is not a fan of the portal.

Recruiting is one part of the coaching process. You also must hire a competent, achieving staff and find success in the postseason. I will credit Dean to his ability to recruit, but he is not a good head coach in my opinion. 9 of our 15 wins came from the bottom 4 of the SEC (Miss. State never played well, who are we kidding?). Attendance has been strong since Myers built up this program. Lenti is the hitting coach and I agree he should be replaced. Dean has had six years to make something of himself and of this program. Nothing team-wise to show for. Maddie Penta is an absolute stud and should be celebrated for her accomplishments, but what does it tell you when the sec pitcher of the year gets put out in regionals (for only the second time in history). And for Bri Ellis, the freshman of the year, she is transferring, so I think it is fair to invalidate that argument since she is likely moving on to a program that will have a much better coach and chance of competing for a national championship. I understand wanting to have faith in our head coach, but he had given zero reason to believe that this program is getting anywhere close to where we once stood.

No offense, but other than Peralta and Tresvik. The others had a combined 4-5 home runs, how in the world is that considered power in the lineup?

The problem with this is that the more the program succeeds, the more money it will draw in. Dean has done nothing in six years, so donors will not cough up their money to encourage a mediocre program.

If we do not fire Dean, the least we could do is fire Lenti.

The buzz in Auburn is that the team doesn’t get along with Dean. It is not a coincidence that FOUR of our starters entered within days of our season ending. Mickey Dean scheduled the weakest non conference schedule in the SEC to pad his stats and make himself look better. Also, 9 of our 15 SEC wins came from the bottom 4 teams of the SEC, we just got a fortunate draw in league play.

We’ve now lost 4 starters to the portal in the span of 2 days. I believe that is a culture problem. Blaine and Ellis live far away so i was thinking maybe they want to be closer to home, but Denver is like an hour and a half from Auburn. This is not right at all.

Denver Bryant goes to the portal too. I told y’all Dean is killing this program.

Buzz in Auburn say Garcia did not get along with Dean/Lenti.

Ellis leaving has got to stir up a conversation of a change in leadership. She was a milestone player and an absolute unit in the lineup. This blows.

Nearly every SEC team is guaranteed a spot in regionals (top 64), so yes it is average.

“Just made a regional final game” okay?? Congrats we were one of the 32 best teams this season, big whoop. Let’s stop pushing the narrative that that is a good season, it’s average. ole miss, arkansas, south carolina, texas a&m, florida, and lsu all did the exact same thing as us this season: finished in a regional final. I suppose we all had “good seasons,” no. It’s 100% completely average.

Here is my issue with everyone saying this was a “good season” or a “fun season.” it was not. am i proud of the fight shown by the team? sure. But we have got to stop pushing the narrative that making it to a regional final is a good season, it’s not. In SIX YEARS, we have accomplished absolutely nothing. We have officially become the average team in the SEC that will get put out in the regionals every single year. I say we make the switch in coaches now before the current sophomore class graduates and Dean tanks this program completely. Another year in the books and another year left unsatisfied. sorry for the rant war damn.

Another issue I have with Dean is he doesn’t prioritize the transfer portal. We have seen time and time again that the way to imminent success in college softball is through the portal. And if we keep Dean, then atleast get rid of Eugene Lenti. He is wayyy to old to be doing this anymore. We need someone who is more adaptive to the newer style of softball being played today. I don’t think this staff has what it takes to break those barriers and get us to that next level of play, and it’s a shame because we have players like Bri Ellis, Nelia Peralta, Maddie Penta, and Denver Bryant that soooo deserve that. I PRAY that they don’t transfer, but I would not blame them.

The most frustrating part of this all is that we KNOW he isn’t getting fired. Our athletic department clearly just turns a blind eye, it’s infuriating.

Auburn can’t hit to save their lives.

They can both go actually. This offense is atrocious.

I think we need to lose Dean. We hired Lenti in 2021 as our hitting coach. Dean is the problem.

We suck.