From the posts that I read, it sounds like most are in agreement that the talent level is not where it needs to be. A key part of that, a lot of people are saying, is that the team lacks a bulldog, gritty attitude that other teams -- Arkansas two years ago, Florida last year, and DBU and, yes, even ORU -- seem to have.
That is a direct reflection of the coaching staff. They are the ones who bring the players in and the players generally - at every level - reflect the personality of the coach.
Associated with that is what a coach looks for in a player. I think it's easy to see that, especially when it comes to pitchers, our coaching staff in enamored with the physical size of the players we go after. But overall, I believe, I think our staff - and I'll include Tom Holliday because it is my belief that he directs a lot of players to OSU through his ties with the summer leagues that he's been a part of in the past - sees kids who have the measurables more than kids who have the heart.
When you listen to the coaches - and again, I include TH in this - they speak highly of our players and speak how they believe they'll be playing in Bigs someday. But those beliefs seemed to be based on physical measurables a lot more than performance.
In the years I coached - and I've been blessed to be around some really good teams - I always based who played for me on performance more than any physical measurables. I think that this is the reason a lot of players liked playing for me is because I didn't care the size of a kid or the looks of a kid or, if he was a pitcher, how hard he could throw, I cared about "can you perform when the lights come on." When I was coaching a team in Missouri (Cape Girardeau), a kid who became my ace was a lanky kid who couldn't break a pane of glass. But he threw strikes, he changed speeds, and he had a breaking ball that he could throw for strikes. And he was a left-hander. Long story short, that team went on to win a state championship.
When I was at Tulsa Union, I coached the freshman team there back in 1998 and 1999. After one of those seasons, the head coach of the program (he's no longer there) asked me who I thought would be the top pitcher coming up to the varsity. I told him a kid who was scrawny and couldn't throw very hard at all. But he changed speeds and hit his spots. When I told the coach who I thought would be his future ace - the player's name was Nathan Gates - he laughed and told me I had a lot to learn about baseball. Well, three years later, Nathan Gates led Tulsa Union to a state championship and was 10-1 and an All-Stater.
My point? This staff gets caught up in guys that have the measurables to be great, but lack the heart to be great. Is that on the players we are bringing in? Or the lack of coaching them up after they arrive? It really doesn't matter which one. Because either way, we are failing with the way we're doing things right now. Our coaches are engrossed on players they think can perform well, but - when the lights are on - are not performing. Yet, they keep putting them out there.
That is a direct reflection of the coaching staff. They are the ones who bring the players in and the players generally - at every level - reflect the personality of the coach.
Associated with that is what a coach looks for in a player. I think it's easy to see that, especially when it comes to pitchers, our coaching staff in enamored with the physical size of the players we go after. But overall, I believe, I think our staff - and I'll include Tom Holliday because it is my belief that he directs a lot of players to OSU through his ties with the summer leagues that he's been a part of in the past - sees kids who have the measurables more than kids who have the heart.
When you listen to the coaches - and again, I include TH in this - they speak highly of our players and speak how they believe they'll be playing in Bigs someday. But those beliefs seemed to be based on physical measurables a lot more than performance.
In the years I coached - and I've been blessed to be around some really good teams - I always based who played for me on performance more than any physical measurables. I think that this is the reason a lot of players liked playing for me is because I didn't care the size of a kid or the looks of a kid or, if he was a pitcher, how hard he could throw, I cared about "can you perform when the lights come on." When I was coaching a team in Missouri (Cape Girardeau), a kid who became my ace was a lanky kid who couldn't break a pane of glass. But he threw strikes, he changed speeds, and he had a breaking ball that he could throw for strikes. And he was a left-hander. Long story short, that team went on to win a state championship.
When I was at Tulsa Union, I coached the freshman team there back in 1998 and 1999. After one of those seasons, the head coach of the program (he's no longer there) asked me who I thought would be the top pitcher coming up to the varsity. I told him a kid who was scrawny and couldn't throw very hard at all. But he changed speeds and hit his spots. When I told the coach who I thought would be his future ace - the player's name was Nathan Gates - he laughed and told me I had a lot to learn about baseball. Well, three years later, Nathan Gates led Tulsa Union to a state championship and was 10-1 and an All-Stater.
My point? This staff gets caught up in guys that have the measurables to be great, but lack the heart to be great. Is that on the players we are bringing in? Or the lack of coaching them up after they arrive? It really doesn't matter which one. Because either way, we are failing with the way we're doing things right now. Our coaches are engrossed on players they think can perform well, but - when the lights are on - are not performing. Yet, they keep putting them out there.
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