Louisville HC Dan McDonnell (Media Day 2024)
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00:00 -As always, welcome. Thanks everybody for coming.
00:04 It's an exciting time of the year.
00:08 Looking forward to kicking off the year
00:12 and getting ready to play another opponent. Obviously the schedule opens up
00:16 for the challenging tournament down in Florida.
00:20 As I've said to our coaches and said to our players,
00:24 we're not gonna win the national championship open in weekends.
00:28 Let's stick to the process and
00:32 let's see what we got. You always feel like you got a good idea as to what you
00:36 have. There's always guys that step up when the
00:40 lights are on and then there's some guys that struggle when the lights are on.
00:44 You take that first month of the season, let it play out,
00:48 and take it from there.
00:52 -Dan, how hard was the off season on you? Isaac mentioned
00:56 he thought it was very difficult. What adjustments did you wind up making?
01:00 This past off
01:04 season. -How hard was it? -How difficult was it
01:08 for you and what adjustments did you make along the way?
01:12 -We take great pride.
01:16 I think I said it maybe a couple weeks ago before the first
01:20 team practice. Whether we win the
01:24 national championship or struggle and
01:28 don't finish well, I don't know if it really changes
01:32 from our standpoint. We want to win the summer.
01:36 We meet in this room. We have a message before they go off
01:41 in the summer. We encourage them, we challenge them,
01:45 we push them, we travel, we visit our guys in our summer leagues
01:49 and guys that are trying out for USA Baseball or playing in the Cape or the Northwoods
01:53 or the New England League. I thought we did a
01:57 good job this summer. Then they come back in the fall and we have a huge fall
02:01 segment. I think this fall was centered around
02:05 a baseball/mission trip to the Dominican Republic
02:09 that we're able to do every four years. I
02:13 see so many benefits from that. We had a good fall.
02:17 Then here we are in phase three, if you call it that,
02:21 as we get ready for the season.
02:25 For me, I thought we won a lot of days,
02:29 won a lot of opportunities,
02:33 and made progress in areas that
02:37 we felt like we need to make progress in, if we're being specific
02:41 on facilities and maybe stuff like that.
02:45 -Dan, you talk about winning days. The first three days,
02:49 obviously this weekend, you're gonna get some good weather it looks like,
02:53 and it's really good competition. I know you love this first weekend to be down
02:57 there and to get three good games in. -I love
03:01 not every year, but probably of the 17
03:05 or 18 seasons, probably 14 or 15 of those, we opened
03:09 up in some type of tournament format.
03:13 I love it. It's, to me, kind of like a regional
03:18 atmosphere. There's fans from all four
03:22 teams. You're waiting in the stands to play your game or your game's going
03:26 on and two teams are waiting to play after you. It has
03:30 a regional feel to it, especially with the four teams having
03:34 all been in a super regional the past three seasons.
03:38 It's good competition.
03:42 It's an opportunity to see
03:46 how you stack up against some of the better teams in college baseball.
03:50 You just gotta learn and grow.
03:54 Whether you win all three or you don't play well,
03:58 it's just... The coach
04:02 saying, it's just one game at a time and let's
04:06 see where we're at. Don't get too high and don't get too low because it
04:10 doesn't really have a bearing as to what the season's gonna look
04:14 like, as we've learned over the years. -Dan, just a couple days away
04:18 from the start of the season, have you and Roger been able to sit down and say, okay, these are gonna be our
04:22 three starters here? -We talk often. We feel really good
04:26 about our options.
04:30 I think early on you have to be
04:34 a realist as to how many pitches and innings can guys go.
04:38 It's more like who can get us out of the gate, who can
04:42 get us through the lineup one time, if you can get us two times, great.
04:46 But we're not typically getting
04:50 a seven inning, eight inning performance. We're just trying to get
04:54 out of the gate. Yes, there's guys
04:59 like Sebastian Gungora
05:03 will get a start this weekend. Evan Webster, probably
05:07 it's amazing the value he brings to our pitching staff because we feel like we could throw him in
05:11 the inning role. Carson Liggett had a really good spring
05:15 last year but he missed the summer and he missed the fall.
05:19 But he's still a candidate to run out there
05:23 and start this weekend. Patrick Forbes did a lot
05:27 this summer and fall for us but don't think he'll
05:31 pitch this weekend necessarily. We're just fighting a little
05:35 lap strain and pull. That's why, like I said, I keep telling our coaches
05:39 let's just be smart, let's make good decisions,
05:43 let's try to get those guys that need to get a little
05:47 healthier, let's get them healthy, and let's
05:51 run out there and compete with the talented group that we have.
05:55 -Dan, each year you kind of have a unique theme for
05:59 every group. What is it for this season? -As I mentioned
06:03 I think with the first question, we met in this room
06:07 frustrated, disappointed, ready to send these guys
06:11 off to win the summer. Fortunately I had a great message
06:15 from Dr. Elko and just talked about the difference between being
06:19 a Lion or a Greyhound. I won't get too deep into it
06:23 but it was clear to be successful, man, you want to
06:27 be a Lion. Don't have your hand out.
06:31 Don't expect others to do it for you. You gotta do it every
06:35 day. If you see this picture around
06:40 the facility in a lot of areas,
06:44 it's on a few of my clipboards. It's in the dugout.
06:48 It's in the hack shack.
06:52 The message is kind of be a Lion
06:56 with a simple, hey, every morning the Lion wakes up and the Lion's gotta
07:00 survive and is not expecting anybody else to do it
07:04 for him. Just a simple message and have that
07:08 focus and desire and hunger and hopefully it's put us in a good
07:12 spot. -As you look to improve
07:16 upon last year, the focus on being mentally tougher,
07:20 improving fundamentals, improving the talent level, what
07:24 areas that you've worked on the most? -I love the word
07:28 you used, mentally tougher. Last year toughness was our theme
07:32 and so as we've learned it's a muscle and so I
07:36 just like to think the longer you're in this program the tougher you're gonna get.
07:40 We're
07:44 always trying to improve with depth,
07:48 with the fundamental side, with the philosophy,
07:52 and I think a lot of it comes to what talent do you
07:56 have? Evaluate your talent and then let's try to help
08:00 these guys be their best. The success of this program has been
08:04 getting players to be their best, getting players to
08:08 put up that All-American type ear. That's why those All-Americans
08:12 are on the wall out there to honor them. But that's
08:17 also to honor the coaches and the program and helping these guys
08:21 be their best. As you break down each player,
08:25 you look at all the players that are returning first,
08:29 saying okay another year in the program, third year
08:33 in the program, fourth year in the program. Like Coach Schneider and
08:37 Coach Rabel, we've gotta get our hitters to be their best
08:41 as well as they've ever performed in this program, those returning, and
08:45 it's the same with Coach Williams and the pitching staff. That if we
08:49 can get Webster and Liggett and Phillips and Corbett
08:53 and all those older pitchers to be their best as well as some
08:57 of the younger guys and the new guys, then you have a chance. I think
09:01 that then you clearly have a chance to do something special. You gotta stay healthy.
09:05 We learned that last year. I always feel
09:09 accountable. I don't like to just say bad fortune.
09:13 We always have to feel accountable
09:17 for everything that happens in our program. Maybe that's just being
09:21 stubborn or hard headed, but that's the mindset I like
09:25 to have. The hope is
09:29 this spring we're a healthier
09:33 program. Unfortunately we're not 100% healthy today,
09:37 but you know what? Maybe that's a blessing. Maybe that's
09:41 forced us to tweak some things. Maybe that's forced us to address some areas
09:45 and do our best to help these guys stay healthy, strong, and as we said,
09:49 to be their best.
09:53 -How specifically does Sebastian add to the team?
09:58 -It's an older pitcher experience. It's a
10:02 guy that started off weekends and pitching conference tournaments and pitching the
10:06 regional. Even though he came in here with some
10:10 fanfare, he earned it. He earned the respect of the players.
10:14 Physically it's a big,
10:18 talented, strong, left handed pitcher. He really took to the system.
10:22 He took to the growth mindset. You could tell. He just wanted to get better
10:26 and he just wanted to be coached and pushed and challenged. You hope the
10:30 combination of him being around the coaches, him being around the program,
10:34 him being around the other pitchers. I think when you're
10:38 walking next to the Ligots and the Phillips and the Websters, and these
10:42 guys have been through it. These guys have pitched in regionals and super
10:46 regionals and the ACC. I think
10:50 him day in and day out being around that pitching staff has probably
10:54 helped him. He's been really good to this point.
10:58 We're looking forward to him running out there with our uniform
11:02 on and pitching against other teams this spring.
11:06 -I think Wake's pretty much a consensus number one in the polls.
11:10 There's five other ACC teams ranked by most people.
11:14 Is the league as tough as it's ever been? -It looks like it on paper,
11:18 which is exciting.
11:22 We've had a lot of success in this league and that's shown
11:26 that gives you a chance to have a lot of success when you get in the postseason.
11:30 That's one of the benefits of being in the ACC.
11:34 You could run across an ACC team, maybe in a super regional,
11:39 or obviously in Omaha, but you're not going through that first
11:43 weekend. Not that you're not gonna face good opponents, but
11:47 I think our league is obviously from a star power
11:51 from certain programs that are locked in right now
11:55 with depth and momentum and success, I think it's great.
11:59 I think it's something that I'm always pulling for
12:03 our league out of the gate. I think our league has learned you gotta
12:07 root for each other. You really need to win at a
12:11 conference. Once conference play starts, the league's
12:15 gonna be 500. In the world of RPI, it's what you do
12:19 in the 26 non-conference games.
12:23 -As far as last year, the catching position,
12:27 it was maybe the craziest you've said that you've ever had to deal with
12:31 with all the injuries. Bring us up to date on those young guys that were injured
12:35 and how's that competition behind the plate been? -Klein and Vierling
12:39 were the two freshman catchers that got hurt.
12:43 They didn't participate this fall, and I thought we did a really good job
12:47 rehabbing, getting them back. I thought those two worked really hard.
12:51 As I kept telling our support staff and our coaches,
12:55 as much as I'd love for them to play in the fall, it's just
12:59 not the best thing when you look at the numbers. The longer
13:03 we gave them time off, the better their chances of staying healthy
13:07 and strong for as long as they can play this game. I feel good
13:11 when you have two, even though they're only sophomores, man,
13:15 they were in the fire as freshmen. They did a nice job.
13:20 But because of the two with the knee injuries,
13:24 we had to go out and get Luke Napleton. That was
13:28 fortunate to get a senior, an older guy,
13:32 just to add depth
13:36 and make sure we were in a good position from the
13:40 coaching side. Then of course you always have signees. We
13:44 had some high school guys come in, Zion Rose and George Baker
13:48 and Taggart Tyson. We've got depth there.
13:52 Now we just gotta use
13:56 that depth to our strength. I've always caught multiple guys,
14:00 two to three catchers, just to keep them healthy,
14:04 keep them strong, keep them fresh.
14:08 That's an advantage for our team this year. We've got a great tradition,
14:12 a great history of catching success. I think part of it
14:16 is Coach Snyder and those catchers in the room. That's like our quarterback
14:20 room. There's a lot of camaraderie in there. There's a lot of
14:24 accountability in there. Like we talked about with Sebastian,
14:28 we call him Seabass, that
14:32 him being around all those talented pitchers should help him and the
14:36 catchers. Them pushing each other day to day and that competition should help
14:40 our catching core as a group.
14:44 -Dan, what have you seen out of the older guys who have been here for a while
14:48 in terms of their leadership and trying to help this program bounce back from missing the
14:52 postseason last season? Isaac mentioned that he kind of drew on lessons from that
14:56 2022 squad and some of the leaders on that team and is applying that to
15:01 this team. -You have to as older
15:05 players. That could be the
15:09 blessing of this program right now. Believe me,
15:13 I would like it to be
15:17 Colin Lyman, Logan Taylor, Jake Sparger,
15:21 Ryan Summers. I would love for kids to walk in this program as
15:25 freshmen and have four years of hosting regionals,
15:29 four years of super regionals, two trips to the College World Series.
15:33 I love when Colin Lyman comes to Duke Chapel because when I introduce him,
15:37 as the players know, I brag about the alumni
15:41 and I give them a lot of love. When you read his resume,
15:45 it's like holy cow. It's unfortunate that
15:49 kids in this room, at least the returners, they're not going to have that
15:53 resume that Colin Lyman has. There are a lot of kids in this
15:57 room that did win an ACC championship. There's a lot of kids in this room that did
16:01 play in a super regional. I guess Evan Webster went
16:05 to Omaha. He's a young guy. He missed it.
16:09 There's enough that the
16:13 Isaac Humphreys and the Beards and the Bensons and the Websters and all those guys
16:17 can take from the good times, but you know what?
16:21 They had to go through some bad times. Use that. Use that as
16:25 a blessing to know the do's and the don'ts. I've told new kids
16:29 when they walk into this program, sometimes it's a blessing when you walk into
16:33 a program when they're coming off a tough year because
16:37 nobody feels comfortable and nobody's sticking their chest out.
16:42 Nobody's entitled. If we talk about the Greyhound, sometimes you walk
16:46 into a program that just won the national championship or they just finished in the top
16:50 five or ten and they just won a conference championship
16:54 and you're kind of... By association, you feel like you won that.
16:58 Sometimes that's not the healthiest for
17:02 young athletes, as I like to call them, amateurs.
17:06 I see where this program is at as such
17:10 a blessing and an opportunity because at the end of the day,
17:14 if this group wins a national championship,
17:18 they would have done something that no other group has ever done here.
17:22 They'll probably say, coach, take that. Take that for all the
17:26 crap that you throw in our face all the time. I'd be glad for them
17:30 to say that to me. Really, that's why many of them are here
17:34 is to get this program back to Omaha.
17:38 I know every recruit and every kid that comes here,
17:42 they want to be the first. They want to be the first team
17:46 to win a national championship here. I love the
17:50 position we're in and the opportunity we have. With that being said,
17:54 it's scary because the goal of this program, and we let the kids vote,
17:58 and we want to hear from them. What do they want? They want to win a
18:02 national championship. My job is to
18:06 get us to play good baseball opening weekend. Get us to throw
18:10 strikes and make a routine play. How about we get a bunt down? How about
18:14 we get a guy in from third? How about we play the game the right way?
18:18 Win or lose, we learn and grow and then we come back the next day.
18:23 That's what makes coaching so much fun, is
18:27 that journey and that process to get to where we ultimately want to be.
18:31 -I think you have four guys from the transfer
18:35 portal, but they're all moving up to ACC level competition.
18:39 What did you see in them that convinced you that they're the right guys?
18:43 -I love just the blue collar
18:47 mentality. You get
18:51 a couple Division II guys and then you get a couple Division I guys
18:55 that not Silver Spoon kids, not
18:59 Greyhounds by any means. I just felt like those four
19:03 kids were lions. They wanted to come here
19:07 after what this program just endured
19:11 with no fear. Man, I could be a part of
19:15 the rebuild. I could be a part of getting that group back to Omaha. I could be a part of
19:19 something special. You kind of always love
19:23 that about maybe junior college kids. I've always loved a couple
19:27 junior college kids because they're so grounded and they're
19:31 humble and they're so appreciative of everything. That was
19:35 one of our themes this year as we talked about Be a Lion.
19:39 I'd like to think from the fall through the leadoff banquet
19:43 attitude of gratitude has been
19:47 a phrase in our program and we did an exercise.
19:51 I still want them to realize how blessed they are and how fortunate they are.
19:55 I see the benefits of that in all areas
19:59 of your life when you're appreciative of what you have and the
20:04 blessings you have. I
20:08 like what those four brought to the table. They
20:12 blended in because we had a great mature older group. It wasn't
20:16 necessarily guys threatened. It was more about competition, good,
20:20 healthy competition that the two pitchers and the two position players brought.
20:24 -Can you talk a little
20:28 bit about the freshman class that you brought in? You've got
20:32 some heralded kids, whether it be a Rose or a Detmers, but
20:36 also maybe even some not quite... A little more off the radar
20:40 kid like a Lucas Moore who just hit all fall and all spring and
20:44 what do you think those kids could bring to the lineup even right away out of the gate this
20:48 weekend? -I've said this and I've had
20:52 meetings with the older players, and we'll have kind of our one big pow wow meeting
20:56 before we head down to Florida. You
21:00 need everybody. We don't have a minor league system.
21:04 We can't make trades at the deadline. This is
21:08 who we have. I find it hard to really do something
21:12 special without freshmen being in the mix.
21:16 When you look at our years, we've been to Omaha,
21:20 and I'll share this story. I had the 11 seniors over my house
21:24 and I sat down with them at the end of the
21:28 night and I told them the story about '07, how
21:32 we took all nine seniors at the regionals
21:36 and we took them on stage when we won the regional.
21:40 We were on the road. We were the visiting team.
21:45 We didn't make a lot of friends that weekend. I don't think
21:49 they were too pleased with us taking over the stage, but I sat
21:53 down and nine seniors walked up on that stage.
21:57 I think this group can be like the '07 group, but
22:01 the '07 group, they'd be foolish to not
22:05 see the value of what Chris Dominguez did on that '07
22:09 game. My gosh, he got hot in the postseason. It was like we
22:13 jumped on his back. Justin Marks was like a
22:17 machine. It was like he was Brendan McKay before
22:21 Brendan McKay. I just don't remember a freshman being that
22:25 consistent, that good, and we flipped the ball to a true freshman every
22:29 Saturday, every game too. He got the program's
22:33 first win in the College World Series, a true freshman.
22:37 I look at this freshman group, we're going to need
22:41 help from them. There's candidates you mentioned
22:45 in position players, in Zion Rose, in Lucas Moore,
22:49 in Alex Alisaia, in pitchers,
22:53 Stark, Detmers,
22:57 Hartman, Dean. I know I'm going to leave
23:01 some guys out in these type of settings, but it's like
23:05 they've got to be mature,
23:09 they've got to understand the process of college baseball,
23:13 and Brendan McKay wasn't Brendan McKay
23:17 opening weekend. In '14, when we made it
23:21 to Omaha, and it was amazing, our lineup, I think Solak was
23:26 hitting third and Corey Ray might have been hitting fifth as true freshman.
23:30 They weren't hitting third and fifth probably the first
23:34 half of the season. That's our
23:38 job as coaches, and we'll have a whole emphasis on
23:42 being selfless and hopefully the older players will help the younger players.
23:46 I am excited about the younger group, and
23:50 they will have to help us, but they just got to know
23:54 it takes a little bit of time before they...
23:58 If there's some superstars in the group, I'd be glad to have...
24:02 I've had the national freshman of the year I think twice,
24:06 and I'd love to have another national freshman of the year.
24:10 Let's see how well they come along and let's see how they help this team.
24:14 -Back to the Portal guys for a minute. You had talked about
24:18 wanting to be that team that won a title without
24:22 anybody from the Portal, but the landscape has changed so much.
24:26 A, kind of when in your mind did you kind of say, okay, we kind of
24:30 have to jump in and do this, and B, you have to get lucky, don't you, with the guys
24:34 that you bring in? -Yeah. I don't want to say... The only reason
24:38 I wanted to win without, because I thought we had a team that could
24:42 compete for a national championship last year and we didn't have a Portal guy on the
24:46 roster, and part of that was we had a lot of talent in the program. We just
24:50 felt like... But
24:54 the combination of the injuries and then the transfer portal really
24:58 makes it like that. For us it was we had the
25:02 injuries at the catching spot and we had a middle infielder
25:07 transfer out. It was like, okay, we need a catcher, we need a middle infielder.
25:11 It just worked out. We had to fill those holes.
25:15 Pitching, right? You never have enough pitching. Just looking at our pitching
25:19 staff and you're leading into the draft and you don't know if
25:23 Webster's signing, if Corbett's signing, if Phillips is
25:27 signing, it's really stressful as a coach. Oh my gosh.
25:31 We better get a couple pitchers in the portal.
25:35 I think it's just... Each program is
25:39 different and you gotta find the right balance for you.
25:43 I think we're well aware, right, that the NIL
25:47 seems to play a big part in the portal.
25:51 I'm appreciative of the 502 circle
25:55 and I'm not gonna say we're where we want to be at,
25:59 but we're moving in the right direction. For me it's
26:03 you're either getting 1% better or 1% worse. We're moving in the right direction.
26:07 Fans have known over the last, I say,
26:11 six months, but I've asked for help. I've asked
26:15 for support. I've asked... I'm wearing a dugout club
26:19 shirt.
26:23 I probably should have wore a 502 circle hat.
26:27 I think it's a great, as we talked about opportunity, it's a great opportunity
26:31 for our fans to step up. What do you believe in?
26:35 Who do you want to be associated with? We all put our
26:39 money and efforts towards something. Whatever that is,
26:43 I'd love for Louisville baseball to be one of those areas.
26:48 As we make improvements and continue to get support in those areas,
26:52 I think the sky's the limit. I think
26:56 with the success of these four guys this year,
27:00 I'd like to think we could go into the
27:04 portal this summer and compete for some of the best players in the country.
27:08 I also feel like I don't have to live and die off of that. I feel
27:12 really good. As we talked about those freshmen and kind of that
27:16 sophomore class gets skipped over a little bit, but
27:20 that sophomore class, the Forbes, the Biven, the Keelan, the
27:24 Lippie, the Klein, the Bierling, I love that sophomore class.
27:28 I feel good about all the talent coming back.
27:32 It'll definitely be a balance of both.
27:36 Recruiting and then I think you've got to be active in the portal.
27:40 Who do you see stepping up with Jack and Christian
27:44 as hitters?
27:48 -I will say this, and I've said this
27:52 a couple times, and some of the freshmen are obviously going to help
27:56 us, but I've said Gavin Keelan. I could make a lineup
28:00 where Gavin, who played an awful lot as a freshman,
28:04 and was a Cape Cod All-Star, and
28:08 has projections already out for the draft next year,
28:12 but just being with him every day and knowing how professional he is,
28:16 how hard he works, I could make a lineup with him being the youngest guy in the lineup.
28:20 That's a comfortable feeling as a coach.
28:25 If Luke Napleton catches, that's a senior.
28:29 If Ryan McCoy is at first, that's a senior.
28:33 Now that's McCoy's second year in our program. I think our
28:37 strength has been on if the longer you're in this program, the tougher you
28:41 get, the better you get.
28:45 Dylan Hoy at second, that's a senior.
28:49 Beard at third, or Anderson, that's a
28:53 junior and a senior. Benson at left, that's a senior.
28:57 Eddie King in center, that's a junior. Really it's Eddie's
29:01 second year because he got hurt his freshman year, so last year was his first
29:05 year. Isaac Humphrey in right, that's a senior.
29:09 That's a comfortable feeling, especially as we
29:13 talk about college athletics, the value of these old quarterbacks and
29:17 these athletes playing. Now there's a balance there because you lose
29:21 a lot of your stars their junior year. But hey, in '07,
29:25 man, I had some star seniors. Boomer Whiting was an
29:29 All-American as a fifth year senior. Logan Johnson
29:33 was an All-American as a senior. Tristan Magnuson was a
29:37 supplemental first round draft pick as a fifth year senior.
29:41 So that's what excites me as being older
29:45 and thinking all those hitters
29:49 that are returning can make huge jumps and just be
29:53 more consistent, more productive, and allow
29:57 us to be more balanced. So when a Zion Rose is in the lineup, or
30:01 Lucas Moore, there's not as much pressure on them. Just fit in the
30:06 lineup and let these older players do what
30:10 they're supposed to do and let these young guys just play.
30:14 -Dan, you talked about the young guys. Going back to Parker,
30:18 obviously his last name's one we're pretty used to around here. How much do you talk to him
30:22 about writing his own story and not looking too much at what
30:26 Reed and what his dad did as a pro? -It's funny
30:30 you say that. I haven't said one word to him about
30:34 it in the sense that you're Parker.
30:38 I'm not saying Coach Williams
30:42 hasn't said it to him or others haven't said it to him. Or
30:46 if he struggles or scuffles at some point he won't sit down and have that conversation.
30:50 But if he were to sit down right now I would think he'd probably say
30:54 I don't think Coach Mack has ever said anything about it.
30:58 Everyone has their own journey. Everyone has their own
31:02 path. And we say
31:06 this a lot. It's like golf. It's not how you drive, it's how
31:10 you arrive. I love Saban's comment about
31:14 when he made references fall he never had a
31:18 general manager or anybody from the NFL ask about a player's
31:22 freshman year. Which I think all coaches
31:26 will be using that one. I always say if the
31:30 freshman year is the highlight of your career you probably
31:34 are gonna have a great career. So whether your
31:38 ERA is five something
31:42 or you hit one home run, I can quickly
31:47 remember within ten months those ERA's
31:51 went to two and the home runs went to
31:55 18. And if those players listen to this
31:59 press conference they probably should know who they are.
32:03 Just let them enjoy the process and grow at his
32:07 pace. But it's exciting
32:11 when you talk about some of those young talented position players and pitchers.
32:15 I feel really good about this young group. And I think they can help us.
32:19 -Do you see any similarities between him and Reid so far at all?
32:23 -I don't. -No pressure. -No I don't. I would say
32:27 this. Probably the work ethic and the
32:31 competitiveness. I think they're very different in
32:35 maybe their characteristics or their day to day.
32:39 But I think they work
32:43 extremely hard and they seem... Just having
32:47 Coach Reid and Watch Parker in a short stint, very
32:51 competitive. I give their mom and dad
32:55 and brothers a lot of credit.
32:59 -Everybody good?
33:03 -Just
33:07 with the number of guys that you had come back
33:11 also dipped into the portal, the freshman class, can you talk
33:15 just a little bit about what it was like
33:19 to juggle the roster management throughout the summer and the fall and kind of
33:23 as you try to get down to the number you need to be with, kind of what that was
33:28 like and maybe if that was a little more difficult just with so many returners and
33:32 things like that? -I think it's a challenge for
33:36 college baseball, excuse me, in general. Roster
33:40 management, I just don't know if another sport
33:44 deals with what we deal with. I mean just the season
33:48 ends, hopefully, like June, and
33:52 you've got a draft in a month
33:56 and every junior in your program wants to get drafted,
34:00 and every high school signee or junior college signee,
34:04 they want to get drafted. It doesn't make them bad. I mean they
34:08 want to get drafted as high as they can. So you're just trying to
34:12 one, juggle who's returning on your own team,
34:16 who's showing up of all the signees you had.
34:20 Two years ago when we got back from
34:24 Texas A&M Super Regional, we knew we were going to lose a lot of
34:28 guys. I think we lost seven to the draft, underclassmen,
34:32 and one that had eligibility, graduated and
34:36 retired. So we lost eight players that could have
34:40 said, hey coach, I want to come back for another year. And then we had three
34:44 signees sign. That's 11 players
34:48 that if this club don't
34:52 draft them or this thing doesn't... I mean like it's out of our control.
34:56 The families have all the control and they can
35:00 do what they want as long as we open the door for them to come back.
35:04 But then this past year, you know, when you deal with the injuries and some guys had down
35:09 years, we lose four. We don't lose eight.
35:13 We lose four. And we don't lose three high school signees. We lose zero.
35:17 So that's stressful
35:21 to me. I'm excited because I love having older players and I
35:25 want every high school kid to show up for all the right reasons,
35:29 but roster management becomes stressful.
35:33 Because now it's like, okay, how do I keep everybody happy? So you just
35:37 do your best and communicate and be honest and
35:41 tell kids where they are and where they are in the depth chart, but
35:45 we have a roster limit that we have to get to
35:49 before Friday. We're the only sport in college baseball
35:53 with a roster limit.
35:57 And nobody, nobody can really give me a good
36:01 reason why. They got too many
36:05 players! Says who?
36:09 The kids want to be here. They want to be here.
36:13 But somehow we've come up with this rule where we have to
36:17 cut a kid who's been here all fall, summer,
36:21 all fall, mapped out, hey, you might not
36:25 make the roster. He didn't want to go to a junior
36:29 college. He didn't want a transfer. He wants to be here. This might be his dream school.
36:33 I want to see it to the end. And then you have to call him in your office and cut him.
36:37 That one's never
36:41 stayed well with me. And I voice my opinion to every
36:45 buddy in college baseball. Everybody who has a voice or an ear
36:50 I think is beyond ridiculous
36:54 that we even have to deal with... I don't know how many sports are there in Division
36:58 I athletics? Probably 30 something? Maybe 40?
37:02 One sport has a roster limit.
37:06 When these kids pay their own way, that's the thing where I'm like, people,
37:10 what admissions director doesn't want more students
37:14 on campus? What school right now in today's day and age doesn't want more people
37:18 paying for tuition, paying for a dorm,
37:22 paying for meal cards, buying a parking pass, paying for books?
37:26 So it is
37:30 for me, it's stressful no matter what happens.
37:34 Whether the draft hits us hard like it usually does, or
37:38 in a certain year it doesn't. You just do your best and
37:42 communicate with kids and
37:46 you know,
37:50 hopefully it works out for everybody.
37:54 -Good. Thank you.