My Letter to AD Mike Hamilton

#26
#26
Fwiw, Raleigh pretty much knows his game and job are toast. Earlier, he was quoted by the KNS (I think it was KNS) as saying he knew there had to be improvement, this year for him to stay as coach. Still, there is a lot of painful Raleighball remaining this season.
 
#28
#28
Pat Murphy should absolutely be pursued as the next coach. He built the ND program from nothing into a national presence and its impossible to argue with the success he had at ASU.

His teams won the last 3 PAC-10 championships and he was the coach of the year in that conference the past 3 seasons. His players have done well in the classroom and if I remember correctly I dont believe he has ever had a player declared academically ineligible.

Living in AZ I have followed the ASU situation closely. From what I have read and heard, Coach Murphy has been used as a scapegoat by the AD and school president to hide the fact that they have underperformed in their positions. There is a prevailing feeling here locally that Murphy was run out of town.

In Coach Murphy's performance evaluations from AD Lisa Love in 2007-2009 Murphy received almost universal praise that made no mention of problems.

"The coaching job turned in by Coach Murphy and his staff this season cannot be overstated," a supervisor wrote in a 2009 evaluation. "(Murphy's) willingness to work within the guidelines set by the administration led to much success."

Love signed off on that evaluation with a congratulatory letter highlighting several accomplishments and awarding him an 8 percent pay raise.

Then at the time of his resignation Love said Murphy resigned on his own initiative. Truth is that Coach Murphy was fired without warning or explanation.

I am confident that in time (when Coach Murphy can fully tell his side of the story) it will be clear that university politics and nothing else led to coach Murphy's dismissal.

The university that realizes this first and acts first in hiring him is going to be getting themselves one helluva ball coach and will no doubt find themselves competing for a national championship in short time.

This post is pretty spot on.

Pat, like almost all coaches, wasn't a saint. But he was given a pretty raw deal.

He's really wanting to get back into coaching. I'd hire him in a heartbeat.
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#29
#29
I wonder how seriously Mike Hamilton will take your message considering you spelled the name of the stadium wrong.

He'd better take letters like this seriously. When you fire the only UT baseball coach who did anything right in 50 years, and replace him with a guy who runs scared from ETSU and loses to Binghamton, you've got a lot of explaining to do.
 
#30
#30
Living in AZ I have followed the ASU situation closely. From what I have read and heard, Coach Murphy has been used as a scapegoat by the AD and school president to hide the fact that they have underperformed in their positions. There is a prevailing feeling here locally that Murphy was run out of town.

I am confident that in time (when Coach Murphy can fully tell his side of the story) it will be clear that university politics and nothing else led to coach Murphy's dismissal.

Well, that and the NCAA investigation that is ongoing.
 
#31
#31
He'd better take letters like this seriously. When you fire the only UT baseball coach who did anything right in 50 years, and replace him with a guy who runs scared from ETSU and loses to Binghamton, you've got a lot of explaining to do.

They've raised the money to make the stadium the way it should be, worked really hard at it, as a matter of fact.

The investment is there, they'll spend the money to get it right in the next coaching search.
 
#32
#32
They've raised the money to make the stadium the way it should be, worked really hard at it, as a matter of fact.

The investment is there, they'll spend the money to get it right in the next coaching search.
Oh, I know they've done what they need to do from a facilities standpoint. It was way overdue.

I just hope Hamilton's judgment on baseball coaches doesn't ape Doug Dickey's on men's basketball coaches. Hopefully he can get it right this time, but hiring Raleigh defied explanation even when he did it.
 
#33
#33
I just hope Hamilton's judgment on baseball coaches doesn't ape Doug Dickey's on men's basketball coaches. Hopefully he can get it right this time, but hiring Raleigh defied explanation even when he did it.

It doesn't. He wants to win. The department needs for baseball to win. Baseball and softball will never break even, but it eases the strain on the department budget of those programs are generating positive revenue like they are at other SEC schools. Softball at Tennessee has a strong fan following and is generating more revenue than it does most places. Baseball is grossly underperforming in revenue generation. When you don't win, people don't buy tickets. Season ticketholders don't show up to buy concessions or souvenirs.

Moverover, Hamilton is too proud of a man to stand by while a program fails. See: men's track. He cares, and we'll get an honest best-choice.

At the of Raleigh's hiring, there were several interested candidates that would not come because of the state of the the facilities and no realistic (at that time) plans to upgrade. We had some drawings, but no realistic way of paying for them. There were also issues that prevented paying above a certain number for a salary. Both of those issues no longer exist.
 
#35
#35
He has received MANY letters very similar to this one and hasn't done anything to fix this situation. He doesn't care about these boys or UT baseball.
 
#36
#36
He has received MANY letters very similar to this one and hasn't done anything to fix this situation. He doesn't care about these boys or UT baseball.

It's all about timing.

You don't let a guy go in March. You just don't do it.

Unless this team catches fire, though, Raleigh is done.
 
#37
#37
It's all about timing.

You don't let a guy go in March. You just don't do it.

Unless this team catches fire, though, Raleigh is done.

I'd say in private, Raliegh needs to be given the ultimatum either make the SECT or you're gone come the end of the season. Maybe he's even already had that conversation.
 
#38
#38
I'd say in private, Raliegh needs to be given the ultimatum either make the SECT or you're gone come the end of the season. Maybe he's even already had that conversation.

Great letter man, I hope Hamilton gets more like it and gets the hint that fans want a winner.

Unfortunately, it looks as though the SEC Tourney is out of reach yet again. It's time to move on from this little experiment.
 
#39
#39
I'd say in private, Raliegh needs to be given the ultimatum either make the SECT or you're gone come the end of the season. Maybe he's even already had that conversation.

Hamilton likes to meet with coaches often. I'm sure if it's not been touched on in a meeting, Todd knows it's implied that turn it around now or you're done.
 
#40
#40
He'd better take letters like this seriously. When you fire the only UT baseball coach who did anything right in 50 years, and replace him with a guy who runs scared from ETSU and loses to Binghamton, you've got a lot of explaining to do.

If you are referring to Delmonico, you will have to get your facts straight. If I am not mistaken, R.D. had a .500 or slightly better conference record for his last several years, and even though he won a lot of games, many of them were against the King College and Carson-Newman's of the world. R.D. teams were not consistently competitive against major colleges. College World Series visits? Not enough to compensate for his lackluster conference records. A good fire by M.H. BTW, what college is R.D. head coach at now?
 
#41
#41
I'd say the Delmonico firing compares with the Fulmer firing; both coaches took their programs to great successes, with Fulmer getting an NC and Delmonico taking 3 teams to the CWS. However both still left a lot to be desired; in Fulmer's case he went downhill after 2001 and Delmonico had way too man subpar years in between CWS appearances.

Both firings were legit and needed. Just because both programs haven't gotten better doesn't mean both coaches shouldn't have been let go. In football's case, you can argue not enough time has passed and we got blindsided by Kiffin, but in baseball's case, Raliegh is in year 3 and has had the talent to at the very least make the SECT. In fact Raliegh to me is the baseball Buzz Peterson.
 
#44
#44
Rehire Rod Delmonico. Hey, George Steinbrener rehired Billy Martin 2 or 3 times and won the World Series. Why Not? If you have followed UT Baseball and really believe that it is the No. 3 sport (as the AD should - but I'm dont think he does), you should know that Coach D took the program this program to great levels. Consistenly? Of course not. He had to rebuild like any other program. Do you see the cycle? Omaha in 95, then 01 and then 05. But keep in mind that during Rod's era, UT made it to Omaha as many times (except LSU) than any other team in the SEC. Factor in that he was recruiting to the 2nd worst facilities in the conference after begging the AD for improvements to keep up with the conference and we play in crappy, winter weather for the better part of 1/2 of the season. He recruited some of the best players in the nation to this place. He was a relentless recruiter. He did it himself. Now look what we have. Raliegh does not have the abilities that Coach D has. Coach D is a teacher of baseball. The truth is that his contract was not terminated based on performance. The contract ended because Mike Hamilton and Coach D just did not have a good personal relationship as AD and Coach. It is my understanding that toward the end of '09 they sat down for a lunch meeting and buried the hatchet, so to speak. I think it came down to the fact that Coach D was Doug Dickey's hire and Mike Hamilton wanted "his own guy" in there. Well, if he rehired the winningest coach in UT's history, I think he would be Mike's guy and he probably would reenergize this program like he did in 1990. I think he would take the conference by storm again. And, I believe he would get us back to OMAHA.
 
#46
#46
Rehire Rod Delmonico. Hey, George Steinbrener rehired Billy Martin 2 or 3 times and won the World Series. Why Not? If you have followed UT Baseball and really believe that it is the No. 3 sport (as the AD should - but I'm dont think he does), you should know that Coach D took the program this program to great levels. Consistenly? Of course not. He had to rebuild like any other program. Do you see the cycle? Omaha in 95, then 01 and then 05. But keep in mind that during Rod's era, UT made it to Omaha as many times (except LSU) than any other team in the SEC. Factor in that he was recruiting to the 2nd worst facilities in the conference after begging the AD for improvements to keep up with the conference and we play in crappy, winter weather for the better part of 1/2 of the season. He recruited some of the best players in the nation to this place. He was a relentless recruiter. He did it himself. Now look what we have. Raliegh does not have the abilities that Coach D has. Coach D is a teacher of baseball. The truth is that his contract was not terminated based on performance. The contract ended because Mike Hamilton and Coach D just did not have a good personal relationship as AD and Coach. It is my understanding that toward the end of '09 they sat down for a lunch meeting and buried the hatchet, so to speak. I think it came down to the fact that Coach D was Doug Dickey's hire and Mike Hamilton wanted "his own guy" in there. Well, if he rehired the winningest coach in UT's history, I think he would be Mike's guy and he probably would reenergize this program like he did in 1990. I think he would take the conference by storm again. And, I believe he would get us back to OMAHA.

Just one question. What was Delmonic's conference record for the last ten years?
 
#47
#47
During that 10 years he got the program to OMAHA. You see, that's the difference between baseball and the other sports. You do what you need to do to get to a Regiona, Super Regional and Omaha. That is how you contend for a national championship Einstein.
 
#48
#48
During that 10 years he got the program to OMAHA. You see, that's the difference between baseball and the other sports. You do what you need to do to get to a Regiona, Super Regional and Omaha. That is how you contend for a national championship Einstein.

Desperate times call for desperate measures, Rod.
 
#49
#49
If you are referring to Delmonico, you will have to get your facts straight. If I am not mistaken, R.D. had a .500 or slightly better conference record for his last several years, and even though he won a lot of games, many of them were against the King College and Carson-Newman's of the world. R.D. teams were not consistently competitive against major colleges. College World Series visits? Not enough to compensate for his lackluster conference records. A good fire by M.H. BTW, what college is R.D. head coach at now?

Correction, Delmonico would no longer play Carson-Newman because CN beat UT the last time they played (Hochevar's freshman year).
 

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