Possible Replacement For Serrano?

#126
#126
ShowmeVols said:
Easy answer, but not a complete one.

UT would also offer him a realistic chance to be unemployed in 5 years when he turns 60.

I think he knows who he is and where he fits in the coaching world. He's doing what he loves at a place he loves where they love him back.

The other part of the equation is that he doesn't have the resume for an SEC job.

He's a 55 year old coach who waited a long time to get his first head coaching job and has had a reasonably successful run at a mid major with 3 40-win seasons, one conference championship and one at-large NCAA bid in 8 seasons. Not likely to reach NCAA's this year.

He's not a hard-charging up-and-comer. And he's not an established championship-level head coach.

I respect the man a lot, but I don't think he & UT would be a good fit for either party.
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Agree with most of what you say. He is clearly behind Calvi and Godwin on my list for the reasons you state about his resume.

As for not wanting to leave liberty only he can answer that but most successful mid major coaches would give it a try IMO. Liberty baseball isn't comparable to a witicha state or even a VCU in hoops. If he wants to get back to Omaha like he was as an assistant he needs to move
 
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#129
#129
ShowmeVols said:
Why would Toman want to leave a position he can hold until retirement? Brand new stadium. Conference he can compete to win every year. Regular NCAA appearances. Opportunity to recruit nationally, at least among evangelical families. He has a pretty sweet gig, and he knows it.
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$ and he has the ego to want to prove himself in the SEC
 
#130
#130
I have no problem with wanting to move on from Serrano, completely get it. I have no faith the AD cares enough about baseball to really make much of a hire. It's just my gut feeling. If we move on, I really hope I'm wrong.
 
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#131
#131
31VFL said:
...I have no faith the AD cares enough about baseball to really make much of a hire. It's just my gut feeling. If we move on, I really hope I'm wrong.
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bingo, starts at the top in any organization. Support, Support and more Support.......
 
#132
#132
If the Vols can't win with Serrano, a solid, proven coach, then who the hell can they win with? I graduated in 1971 (started in 64 with a hiatus for the army), and other than the Delmonico years, I can't recall any significant period that the baseball Vols have been much more than a joke. Sometimes I get the idea that baseball on Rocky Top is cursed. They make the Cubs look like perennial contenders.
 
#133
#133
I understand the frustration and expect more from the program. However, I just think Serrano will figure it out. He wants to win and I think has shown he is willing to adjust his style to try and win. This is a brutal conference. It is tough to turn the ship around. I would give him more time. He seems to figured out (with help from Simcox) how to score some runs. Now we just need some ptiching depth and/or how to use the staff. Consistently winning the mid-week games is a positive direction. Simply have to start winning some weekend series. With all that said, you dont make the SEC tournament, the pressure for change will be loud and justified. Hope he can find the missing pieces.
 
#134
#134
buvol said:
I understand the frustration and expect more from the program. However, I just think Serrano will figure it out. He wants to win and I think has shown he is willing to adjust his style to try and win. This is a brutal conference. It is tough to turn the ship around. I would give him more time. He seems to figured out (with help from Simcox) how to score some runs. Now we just need some ptiching depth and/or how to use the staff. Consistently winning the mid-week games is a positive direction. Simply have to start winning some weekend series. With all that said, you dont make the SEC tournament, the pressure for change will be loud and justified. Hope he can find the missing pieces.
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I am a big Simcox fan but after paying very close attention the last few games I have watched it seems like we the fans are placing the credit with the offense in the wrong place.

Thomas is running the offense on his own. He is making the calls and from what I can tell after closely watching the last few weeks he deserves most of the credit for the turn around.

This isn't a knock on CLS just an observation
 
#135
#135
31VFL said:
I have no problem with wanting to move on from Serrano, completely get it. I have no faith the AD cares enough about baseball to really make much of a hire. It's just my gut feeling. If we move on, I really hope I'm wrong.
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You might not have to worry as much come June/July. I will be shocked if UT doesn't make changes with Cheek and/or Hart. Wishful thinking perhaps, but if that does come, it will be nice to know the decision on Serrano is in someone else's hands. If I were making the call, Cheek and Hart both go. I bring David home and let him make the call and hire. That's my fantasy world for what it's worth.
 
#136
#136
Here's the problem with giving him a one- or two-year extension:
It tells recruits he might not be around when they show up on campus, and that reduces his ability to get the players who have to make a choice between college and the pros.

Either give him a new deal or fire him. And honestly, I don't know which is the right call, for the reasons others have cited on each side of the question. But I do know we shouldn't leave him hanging with short extensions.
 
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#137
#137
I like him and do not understand why he has not been able to do here what he has done other places. But we are not very good. we have not been good since Delmonico
 
#138
#138
vol66 said:
I think it's fair to say that CDS realized the offensive philosophy they employed was not going to work and he hired Slim and Aric is calling the shots and there's no way to say that making that move wasn't in the best interest of the program.

However, there is also a pitching philosophy and it is one where CDS says something like he is not a strike out coach. He's said something like that a couple of times in recent interviews. When one looks at the standings, all of the teams at the top have 300+ strike outs, UF leads with 369...we're last at 237.

If that philosophy is employed, that means you're going to allow hits, thus the defense has to be stellar. Only Missouri (332) has given up more hits than us (308) while our fielding percentage is .968, below the league average of .971. These guys are getting more double plays than we have in the past so it does at least look like it's s'pose to look, but...Only UGA has walked more batters than us.

That's a bad combination...walk the second most batters, allow the second most hits and be an average, to below average defense.

Obviously, Kyle would have gotten us more K's, so would Westphal and Warren has 43 which isn't top 15 in the league, but close. Still...

Just putting it out there.


GBO!!!
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You are right- that's a bad combination. If you are pitching to contact, then it shouldn't result in so many walks. I don't mind the philosophy, but our guys simply walk too many people. We have lost 6 one run games and another 3 two run games. If we didn't walk as many, I would bet we would have a few more wins.
 
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#139
#139
First, I hope that CDS gets at least one more season and can turn this ship around soon. With that being said, if there is a change, here is the Coach that Hart or whoever the AD is at that time, should go after: Mark Calvi, University of South Alabama. Former USC Gamecock pitching coach, great recruiter and quality person.

Would be my first call if I was AD.

University of South Alabama - Staff Directory
 
#140
#140
Now, we're not sure there's a more liked coach on campus than Dave Serrano. The Vols' baseball coach is a quality man liked by many --- including us here. But his fate appears more grim by the week. And we are told Major League Baseball folks from both leagues have begun to explore the Tennessee job, should it formally come open. Oddly enough, Serrano's team is tied with Arkansas and Missouri for the final spot in the SEC Tournament, but the schedule remains unkind as it's Vanderbilt this weekend.
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- Volquest War Room
 
#141
#141
VolGee4 said:
You are right- that's a bad combination. If you are pitching to contact, then it shouldn't result in so many walks. I don't mind the philosophy, but our guys simply walk too many people. We have lost 6 one run games and another 3 two run games. If we didn't walk as many, I would bet we would have a few more wins.
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I think it was Bill Parcels who said it's a mistake to look at a large number of close losses and think it means a team is on the verge of success. It doesn't mean you're a good team. It means you're a bad team in close games.
 
#142
#142
ShowmeVols said:
I think it was Bill Parcels who said it's a mistake to look at a large number of close losses and think it means a team is on the verge of success. It doesn't mean you're a good team. It means you're a bad team in close games.
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I'm afraid that's the conclusion I've come to. You can only tout "almost" winning so much, and eventually you have to just admit you just aren't good at winning.
 
#145
#145
ShowmeVols said:
I think it was Bill Parcels who said it's a mistake to look at a large number of close losses and think it means a team is on the verge of success. It doesn't mean you're a good team. It means you're a bad team in close games.
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Can't disagree, but you at least have to figure out why you are losing games. You can't just throw your arms up and not care. IMO, the walks are a bad trend and simply something that is not acceptable at this level.
 
#146
#146
VolsSportsFan said:
I'm afraid that's the conclusion I've come to. You can only tout "almost" winning so much, and eventually you have to just admit you just aren't good at winning.
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As I stated above, you at least have to analyze "why you aren't good at winning" and make an attempt to correct the problem. I agree that it's not being unlucky all the time, but you will never get better if you don't try to figure it out.
 
#147
#147
As was mentioned in the "Come to Jesus" thread...University of Tennessee may not be putting forward the resources necessary to compete with those that do. If you can find a better head coach than Dave Serrano...go get him. I don't think many on this board really understand what an elite line of coaches that CDS comes from. Wally Kincaid, the head coach at Cerritos was a legend. He ushered into the coaching profession Dave Snow, George Horton, Rick Vanderhook, Don Sneddon, Mike Weathers, just to name a few. Many of these also spent time with coaching legend Augie Garrido. CDS is a proven winner...at every level. If anyone has ever spent time watching a Fullerton team play...you would see the grit and determination they play with. It is different from anywhere else in the country. These "Kincaid" coaches are as talented as any group of coaches anywhere. There is no question that the SEC conference has the MOST talented rosters, the best facilities, and the most resources. I read as posters write about doing a better job recruiting in TN. CDS needs a budget to recruit the best players, those are found on the fields of Southern California. Does Tennessee produce great baseball players...of course...but the talent pool is nowhere near the depth of those in other states. Little Fullerton (a school with no football program and a sad basketball program) has had 3 Golden Spikes winners (Wallach, Nevin, and Kotsay)...and they have nowhere close to the resources that UT has. I believe that if UT can't win with CDS...you better take a deep look at the commitment of the athletic department and compare it to who you are competing against. It is a deeper issue than the coach. If some young phenom coach wanted to come to UT (like CDS did), then by all means get him. Baseball, unlike basketball and football is more of an organizational driven sport. Being a genius with the X's and O's may win you a few games, but at the end of the day the teams that win at all levels, win because of the commitment of the organization. I am not making excuses for CDS...his resume speaks for itself. I just feel many UT supporters are using HIM as the excuse and they once again will look for an easy fix.
 
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#148
#148
buvol said:
With all that said, you dont make the SEC tournament, the pressure for change will be loud and justified.
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If making the conference tournament is considered an achievement, that tells you just how pathetic the program is. I made this same comment more than once during the Raleigh years.
 
#149
#149
HeyBuddy said:
As was mentioned in the "Come to Jesus" thread...University of Tennessee may not be putting forward the resources necessary to compete with those that do. If you can find a better head coach than Dave Serrano...go get him. I don't think many on this board really understand what an elite line of coaches that CDS comes from. Wally Kincaid, the head coach at Cerritos was a legend. He ushered into the coaching profession Dave Snow, George Horton, Rick Vanderhook, Don Sneddon, Mike Weathers, just to name a few. Many of these also spent time with coaching legend Augie Garrido. CDS is a proven winner...at every level. If anyone has ever spent time watching a Fullerton team play...you would see the grit and determination they play with. It is different from anywhere else in the country. These "Kincaid" coaches are as talented as any group of coaches anywhere. There is no question that the SEC conference has the MOST talented rosters, the best facilities, and the most resources. I read as posters write about doing a better job recruiting in TN. CDS needs a budget to recruit the best players, those are found on the fields of Southern California. Does Tennessee produce great baseball players...of course...but the talent pool is nowhere near the depth of those in other states. Little Fullerton (a school with no football program and a sad basketball program) has had 3 Golden Spikes winners (Wallach, Nevin, and Kotsay)...and they have nowhere close to the resources that UT has. I believe that if UT can't win with CDS...you better take a deep look at the commitment of the athletic department and compare it to who you are competing against. It is a deeper issue than the coach. If some young phenom coach wanted to come to UT (like CDS did), then by all means get him. Baseball, unlike basketball and football is more of an organizational driven sport. Being a genius with the X's and O's may win you a few games, but at the end of the day the teams that win at all levels, win because of the commitment of the organization. I am not making excuses for CDS...his resume speaks for itself. I just feel many UT supporters are using HIM as the excuse and they once again will look for an easy fix.
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great analysis! If you look at the thread of $$ spent per SEC school on baseball, we are right where we spend the money in relation to other programs, bottom third of the conference.
 
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#150
#150
OldTimer said:
great analysis! If you look at the thread of $$ spent per SEC school on baseball, we are right where we spend the money in relation to other programs, bottom third of the conference.
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IMO the $ spent isn't the biggest factor at all on our issues. I don't think it plays much into it really.

I think it's more centered around the ability to limit cost for our players. We have to go out of state so much and from what I know there is virtually no relief in lessening those cost. Many schools have lesser academic scholarship qualifications and that isn't even discussing the Vandy thing.

We need a better way to recruit an out of state player.

Jmo
 
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