So..... If the new baseball coach has a couple lackluster seasons, it will be ok and he gets the benefit of the doubt right? Since he'd be losing with Smoke's players and all. Gotta wait four years until he has all his own players right?
No one said this team was low on talent, it was lacking a head coach that could motivate, teach and manage a game. I'm sure there will be a grace period but I wouldn't expect a long one.
since your question is rhetorical, Ill make it interesting. seems like the coup will be getting the pitching coach, terry rooney who is only 32 yrs old. He has been involved in seven recruiting classes that have been ranked among the national leaders, including Notre Dame's current group of 2006 freshmen that were rated as the nation's seventh-best recruiting class for 2006. Upon his arrival, Rooney set about educating the Irish pitchers on the concept of "offensive pitching" that focuses on aspects that the staff can control - being mechanically-sound, working to advantage counts, high first-pitch strike percentages and controlling the running game. The pitchers quickly bought in to Rooney's plan, yielding a 3.43 ERA in 2004 that ranked ninth in the nation - the program's fifth straight seasons among the nation's top-20 ERA leaders (matched only by Texas and Rice). An emphasis on limiting free passes yielded just 162 walks allowed in '04 (down from 200 in '03), for an average of 2.63 walks per nine innings that ranks second in the Irish record book behind the '01 staff (2.48) led by seniors Aaron Heilman and Danny Tamayo. The `04 staff also posted the program's second-best strikeout-to-walk ratio (2.69, trailing only the 2.92 in '01) while the .248 opponent batting average ranks fifth-best by an Irish staff since the wood-bat days of the early 1970s. The impressive numbers posted by the 2004 staff reflected strong performances by a diverse group of pitchers, molded by Rooney to maximize their strengths. if he maximizes the talent thats what matters and results will follow and something we were lacking with the previous staff. failure to develop players was a major issue, especially pitchers.
True... So the general consensus seems to be that the new coaching staff should have shovels more than capable of digging up stuff.
No, no, no. Don't you get it, yet? If Maineiri does well his first season, it doesn't mean squat. Afterall, he'll be doing it with Smoke's talent. Everyone knows that. And if those games are close...oh man, we might have to fire him.
methinks that we'll need to hold out any positive comments for at least this upcoming season......after all, coming from a school that traditionally hasn't made waves in baseball, no real record of success...............
