Well, lets say I have been paid to play it, coach it in organized ball and now enjoy teaching the game one on one to young whipper snappers like you. In all seriousness, CTR got hired in June; good, bad or whatever and however it happened. He took over a defunked program that CRD had let slip. Slip in ways most people don't know. Two years in a row, UT baseball team was the only D1 program in the nation to loose scholarships due to the NCAA graduation and grade requirements. When you only have 11.7 to devide up and you loose just 1 scholarship....well that's the truth why CTR is here. His teams at W Caroliana had some of the highest ratings in D1. So you see...there is more than winning on the field, sometime it's in life. The results of CRD lack policies began to show on the field and it was a constant thing to keep players elgible. Not the problem CTR has got, cause from all my understanding he has this under control. So far as the field, he has no pitching other than his weekenders. To coach kids you've never seen on the field, never the less coached, it takes some time to sort who can play what. Mistakes are made and most have cost the Vols. He has done an admirable job with the short notice hire so far as bringing in some quality players. Getting Davis to by pass the money to come to UT was a biggie, getting players to trust in him and not transfer out on him such as Lockwood, Gomes, Hernandez and Griffin was a big plus. Finding a quality middle infielder late that was unsigned such as Grisham to fill in a void left by CRD son Tony was a must. So you see guys, picking UT last was easy. Winning and staying in the thick of the SEC race on weekends can depleat you thru the week. Look at your Guru coaches in the SEC and see who they have lost mid week games to and compare UTs stats with the rest and they stack up with the majority of teams. In fact their SEC stats are better than most.
So guys...I hope I have shed some light on your negative thoughts of this team. Think about it from last to being at Hoover and a regional opportunity possible...wouldn't you agree for a coach that inheriated a white elephant, that's pretty good for your first SEC outing.
