Josh Elander new Asst coach

#27
#27
Then we just hired a coach with no fulltime coaching experience to be our "offensive coordinator".
Clearly this is a long term hire, I doubt anyone thinks this team has a legitimate shot at the postseason this year, he showed promise at Arkansas and clearly got along with Vitello. He'll develop as the program develops can't be focused on winning ASAP if it isn't plausible
 
#28
#28
Clearly this is a long term hire, I doubt anyone thinks this team has a legitimate shot at the postseason this year, he showed promise at Arkansas and clearly got along with Vitello. He'll develop as the program develops can't be focused on winning ASAP if it isn't plausible

It seems to be a high risk high reward decision. I just don't think SEC programs should take such risk.
 
#29
#29
Ha. Look his commits so far have been great but you can't make a living outside of the SE IMO. We now have a staff with zero SE ties, a recruiting cordinator that has never recruited, and recruited the heart of the summer with one man down so he could wait to see if he was hired at Arkansas.

Perhaps Elander was a fallback? He exhausted all other options and finally went to a sure thing. Can't see him waiting 30 days to hire his 1st choice if its a guy he could've had the whole time.
 
#30
#30
Vitello has no wife, and he doesn't have any kids. The guy can wear as many hats as he wants.
 
#31
#31
Perhaps Elander was a fallback? He exhausted all other options and finally went to a sure thing. Can't see him waiting 30 days to hire his 1st choice if its a guy he could've had the whole time.

It appears clear that Elander was waiting on Arkansas to me.
 
#33
#33
Vitello has no wife, and he doesn't have any kids. The guy can wear as many hats as he wants.

I don’t question Vitello’s drive or energy level. But, no one wins without surrounding themselves with talented staff / employees. He needs to manage and allow his staff to coach. The program needs quality-experienced eyes to get the most out of these young players.
 
#35
#35
I think Vitello is looking for the best fit as far as assistant coaches are concerned and it is not a bad thing to not have a recruiting coordinator without SE ties because this enables UT to try to recruit nationally and gets the baseball brand in different areas.
 
#36
#36
Perhaps Elander was a fallback? He exhausted all other options and finally went to a sure thing. Can't see him waiting 30 days to hire his 1st choice if its a guy he could've had the whole time.

Might have been his 1st choice from day 1 however he had to fulfill his obligations with former employer before moving on, the honorable thing to do.
 
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#37
#37
If he was so good at Arkansas why didn't they hire him to replace Vitello?

Big difference here. Dave Van Horn is at the point in his career and age that he isn't out on the recruiting trail like he used to be. Van horn seeks experience for his recruiting coordinator because of that. They are pretty much solely responsible for recruiting. Vitello will have his fingerprints all over the recruiting. He will be the most active head coach on the trail. Trust me on this. His results so far should speak of that. He got Watkins and Crochet who was probably the best unsigned 17 kid left to finish out the 17 class. He has gotten commits from Sean Guilbe and Mitchell Parker two of the top kids in the country at there position for 18. Josh Elendar did a very good job at Arkansas helping assist with the hitting. The razorback players credit a lot of there success to him. Vitello also coached him at TCU so he knows firsthand his abilities. Every coach needs there start somewhere. Vitello was at one time a 23 year old recruiting coordinator at Mizzou and one of his first recruits happened to be Max Scherzer. At Mizzou in his first 3 years he recruited Scherzer, Aaron Crowe and Kyle Gibson. Give the hire a chance I think everyone will be pleased.
 
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#38
#38
Big difference here. Dave Van Horn is at the point in his career and age that he isn't out on the recruiting trail like he used to be. Van horn seeks experience for his recruiting coordinator because of that. They are pretty much solely responsible for recruiting. Vitello will have his fingerprints all over the recruiting. He will be the most active head coach on the trail. Trust me on this. His results so far should speak of that. He got Watkins and Crochet who was probably the best unsigned 17 kid left to finish out the 17 class. He has gotten commits from Sean Guilbe and Mitchell Parker two of the top kids in the country at there position for 18. Josh Elendar did a very good job at Arkansas helping assist with the hitting. The razorback players credit a lot of there success to him. Vitello also coached him at TCU so he knows firsthand his abilities. Every coach needs there start somewhere. Vitello was at one time a 23 year old recruiting coordinator at Mizzou and one of his first recruits happened to be Max Scherzer. At Mizzou in his first 3 years he recruited Scherzer, Aaron Crowe and Kyle Gibson. Give the hire a chance I think everyone will be pleased.

Well done. Welcome. I can buy most of that and certainly will give the guy a chance. What part I don't buy is TV being able to be that heavily involved in recruiting for long. Too many other responsibilities.
 
#39
#39
Well done. Welcome. I can buy most of that and certainly will give the guy a chance. What part I don't buy is TV being able to be that heavily involved in recruiting for long. Too many other responsibilities.

Yeah very true. By that time I think TV will have Elendar trained and ready to go. Trust me TV will get big time talent to Knoxville.
 
#41
#41
I am not opposed to the hire although I think we needed a coach with recruiting experience and in the SE. We got neither. I am pissed we let him work for Arkansas all summer allowing him to try and get that job first. That's bs

What pisses me off is that it appears Currie is standing pat with our baseball facilities for the time being. Baseball is second class at UT and it appears it's destined to remain so. Of course, watch them put top dollar into a softball facility.
 
#42
#42
What pisses me off is that it appears Currie is standing pat with our baseball facilities for the time being. Baseball is second class at UT and it appears it's destined to remain so. Of course, watch them put top dollar into a softball facility.

While I am not a fan of women's softball, I have to admit that neither baseball or softball is a revenue generating sport. And the softball has produced in the past 10 years and should be higher in the pecking order than baseball.

Sadly, those are the facts.
 
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#43
#43
How about a Grad Assistant? Maybe we can find someone with SEC experience there? I know their role is very limited but it wouldn't hurt.
 
#44
#44
Might have been his 1st choice from day 1 however he had to fulfill his obligations with former employer before moving on, the honorable thing to do.

As a volunteer assistant I can't imagine how he'd "owe" his former employer anything. He's getting paid a few grand a year to run some camps. You shouldn't be obligated to stick around and forgo serious paychecks for peanuts.
 
#48
#48
What pisses me off is that it appears Currie is standing pat with our baseball facilities for the time being. Baseball is second class at UT and it appears it's destined to remain so. Of course, watch them put top dollar into a softball facility.

You don't come up with a long-term plan for the facility overnight. I would rather him wait, work with her new head coach, and find a plan that works for the next 20 years, rather than just trying to throw money at something without a long-term plan. There are investments that can be made to help the program immediately. Coming up with a rash plan to upgrade the stadium without a long-term vision is not one of them.

I realize that there have been plans in the past to upgrade and renovate the stadium. Most of those plans are now nearly 10 years old. They don't reflect the current state of the stadium or the infrastructure surrounding it.

I'm not sure why you would object money being spent on Softball. They already have a relatively new stadium that was paid for completely by donor money. If a donor wanted to step up to pay every cent for the baseball upgrades, they would've been done already. That hasn't happened. Last year, when they had the opportunity to add 500 seats to the softball stadium at a very low cost with a donor ready to write the check, they did it. They also sold every ticket in those new bleachers for the rest of the season, including the SEC and NCAA tournaments.

A donor cut the check for the new video board at Softball two years ago, but Hart wouldn't allow it to be purchased and installed until they could afford to buy one at baseball and soccer. They ended up having to pay for that out of the general fund because no one would step up to buy one at baseball.

The program has its problems, and a lack of support from donors is another one of them. It's financially irresponsible to commit to upgrades without any external support, when upgrades every other sport are completed with donors support.
 
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#49
#49
You don't come up with a long-term plan for the facility overnight.

The program has its problems, and a lack of support from donors is another one of them. It's financially irresponsible to commit to upgrades without any external support, when upgrades every other sport are completed with donors support.

"We're moving slowly but surely into the 21st century in determining what's good for the fans,'' Diesing said. "This allows controlled access to beer and wine at concession stands, and I think it'll work out to be a fan-friendly result.''


http://www.espn.com/college-sports/...ine-sold-general-seating-college-world-series
 
#50
#50
[Twitter]https://twitter.com/johndbrice1/status/890235138369626113[/Twitter]
 

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