Help Me Understand Serrano's Plight

Discussion in 'VOLuminous' started by Tenacious D, May 28, 2015.

  1. Tenacious D

    Tenacious D The law is of supreme importance, or no importance

    What's going wrong with Serrano's tenure at Tennessee? I'm legit curious to know and of the following, or otherwise, that could serve to explain it:

    1. What are the official and unofficial reason(s) he's struggling so mightily to get things turned around?

    2. Does "small-ball" not work in the SEC (and I'm not sure that I even know what that is)?

    3. Can he / his staff not recruit the talent he needs? Do they struggle to corch'em up, once here?

    4. Are there problems in the locker room? If so, what?

    5. Are there problems off-the-field? If so, what?

    6. Is there something about Serrano, personally, that is hindering our efforts? Is he mailing it in? Is he too loyal to bad assistants? Is he catering to some players, over others, and the good of the team?

    7. Do you think he makes significant progress to save his job beyond next season?

    8. If he is shown the door, who are the Top 3 most likely coaches to replace him?
     
  2. A-Smith

    A-Smith Chieftain

    Small ball means your team doesn't have any power.
     
  3. InVolNerable

    InVolNerable Fark Master Flex

    I thought it meant they were constantly drained.
     
  4. CardinalVol

    CardinalVol Uncultured, non-diverse mod

    My 2 cents

    1. Bad assistants and can't get the talent to compete with the top SEC teams.

    2. Small ball with a metal bat is still the dumbest thing I've ever heard

    3. No/yes

    4. No idea

    5. No idea

    6. Lazy/yes/possibly/his son

    7. No

    8. I defer to the gay truck stop whore and hat. But at this point, I'm ready to give Burke a shot. Oh, and the obligatory Phil Garner mention.

    What do people know about Dan Heefner at Dallas Baptist? What that program has done all things considered is nothing short of amazing to my uninformed eye.
     
  5. NYY

    NYY Super Moderator

    1. assistants are weak. By weak I mean on the recruiting trail and also in player development. We don't have a tie-in to the top baseball hot spots. Until we get a foothold we will struggle getting top-tier guys. The biggest issue with the assistants, though, is that there isn't one guy on staff that questions the moves Dave makes. In baseball, that's dangerous. 2. I've said it before but we are at a disadvantage in two ways geographically. Top talent will go to pro drafts or places where it's much warmer. The second reason is Tim Corbin. We will not win recruiting battles against him.

    Unofficial- we had 4 legitimate SEC bats in the lineup this year. 4. Four.

    2. Small ball does work and is not a bad kick start with the new bats. However, it does no good to play small ball when moving runners into scoring position when you don't have the horses to bring them in. When you have 4 legitimate bats, it's very easy to pitch around those guys that can hurt you. Or when they do hurt you, it's not an inning with a crooked number.

    3. No. And yes they do. The hitting philosophy here is suspect at best. And some have argued its tough to even call it a philosophy.

    4. No.

    5. Nothing out of the ordinary that any program may face.

    6. The problem with Dave is two-fold. 1. He's not done the legwork to create a network around him that is conducive to a winning program. What he has done is hired guys that aren't really going to challenge him, other than one. And he didn't stay long. 2. He has for the most part not giving his very best effort. You may say he's packed it in.

    There's no way you can say he's catering to some players over the good of the team because the depth isn't there. He did, however, have some guys extremely out of position and asked one of his better hitters to bunt and effectively took the bat out of his hands. One of the only 4 who can hit SEC pitching consistently.

    7. No.

    8. I have no clue who Dave Hart will use. Dave has as much baseball acumen as Tenny and kidb combined. If I'm making a list it would be in this order.

    1. Erik Bakich- head coach at Michigan and was a huge reason Vanderbilt was successful. He's a highly personable guy. Has great ties around the southeast and could turn the program around. Would gladly move back down this way.

    2. Casey Dunn- head coach at Samford. Former catcher at Auburn. Which is the only thing I see wrong with him. They've posted over 30 wins in all but one year in his tenure. And the best thing about I him is he gets guys drafted. That's a huge selling point in college baseball. That and he is a former catcher which is usually a great attribute for a coach.

    3. Dan Heefner- head coach at Dallas Baptist. He may very well be the best hitting instructor in all of college baseball. Dallas Baptist has no business making the NCAA tournament. He's taken them to 3 regionals and a super regional.

    Chris Burke will have a lot of backing. I love Burke. I'm not sure he's ready, though. He's a helluva guy and knows the game. But being dropped into the SEC as a head coach straight out of the broadcast booth would be unfair to him.
     
  6. NYY

    NYY Super Moderator

    Made my list. He's a rising star. Will win big somewhere.
     
  7. Tenacious D

    Tenacious D The law is of supreme importance, or no importance

    Expound on this comment, with as much detail as you can provide:

    "He has for the most part not giving his very best effort. You may say he's packed it in."
     
  8. lylsmorr

    lylsmorr Super Moderator

    Didn't know Heefner was that good
     
  9. Tenacious D

    Tenacious D The law is of supreme importance, or no importance

    Let's also talk about baseball recruiting, particularly in TN / East TN.

    When I look at TN as a recruiting ground for D1 / SEC caliber FOOTBALL talent, I'd say it's a 6 out of 10. It's rising, but still well below the Grade 9-10 states like GA, LA, FL, TX, et al.

    How would you guys rank (1 = Infrequent and Bad, 10 = Consistently Excellent) TN as a producer of D1/SEC caliber BASEBALL talent?

    I have no idea, and am just looking for a point of reference.
     
  10. CardinalVol

    CardinalVol Uncultured, non-diverse mod

    I'm taking this from a similar conversation on a FB post. I'll let you judge -

     
  11. Tenacious D

    Tenacious D The law is of supreme importance, or no importance

    Damn.

    I still say that winning is the single best recruiting tool. But if true, we're screwed.
     
  12. NYY

    NYY Super Moderator

    When faced with adversity that was not foreseen, people do one of two things. They either fight. Or they lay down and quit.
     
  13. NYY

    NYY Super Moderator

    Tennessee baseball as a whole is down. However, there are still some top tier guys that can compete at the highest level. To the credit of UT, two of the best arms in East Tennessee are locked down. The Neely kid from Hardin Valley, who won the state championship this year, is the real deal.

    And upcoming senior Will Heflin from Morristown West may be one of the best competitors on the mound in the entire southeast.

    Assuming both don't go pro if drafted, will give UT some legitimate arms in
    the next few years.

    With that said, the Atlanta area needs to be attacked hard. And someone with ties to the great summer programs needs to be networked in.
     
  14. CardinalVol

    CardinalVol Uncultured, non-diverse mod

    Who are best summer programs in TN and in Southeast? I know I'm very dated on that for sure.
     
  15. NYY

    NYY Super Moderator

    In 26 years around the game, Wil Crowe and Daniel Norris are two of the most dynamic arms I've ever seen. At any level.

    I'm anxious to see how Crowe bounces back after TJ.
     
  16. NYY

    NYY Super Moderator

    Perfect Game.
    Marucci has a summer program.
    TBCA all stars.
    Cobb county.
    Elite baseball


    Perfect game I enjoy because they set up in regions across America and it's convenient to see the best talent in that area at a given time.
     
  17. RockyHill

    RockyHill Loves Auburn more than Tennessee.

    I haven't stayed up to date with it all, but when I was playing the Cobb county teams could straight up play.
     
  18. CardinalVol

    CardinalVol Uncultured, non-diverse mod

    I've never understood how UGA is not a perennial CWS team with the talent in the Atlanta area alone.
     
  19. lylsmorr

    lylsmorr Super Moderator

    Our freshman catcher is from Science Hill
     
  20. NorrisAlan

    NorrisAlan Founder of the Mike Honcho Fan Club

    Or Football. Or Basketball. Or track. Or...or....or...
     

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