Dave has been a friend of mine since we competed against each other from '80 to now. He's a class act and a hard worker.quote:Originally posted by PGStaff:
Dave Schrage is a very close friend and to be honest he became devastated when his wife passed away (cancer). He is one great human being and was one of my favorite college coaches.
Not sure what is meant by the accusation... coaches on his staff weren't in it to assist Dave. We certainly never noticed anything like that.
I was very sad to learn and shocked when Jody passed away. She was a great gal, mother, wife and coach, especially friend, to Dave, their two daughters and a credit for battling on and off the field as she did. I had just spoken to her maybe 2 weeks before she passed away after learning she had "C" and having had a father who passed away from it and only being diagnosed with it less than 7 months before he passed, an Aunt that lived with it for 17 years after being given day to day to live by her doctor, it really hit me hard, knowing her and her hubby as long as I did and what they have gone through in raising their girls, moving from town to town, even a country when Dave first started coaching when he was in Australia one year. I really miss her and will always remember how great she was because her friendship still impacts us today.
When I said that the assistants didn't assist, you will have to read between the lines. When he was at UNI, Waldorf, N Ill, Evans, he always had support and he brought some of that support with him or some of them became HC themselves. However a couple of the last two he had didn't help him build the program. I am a firm believer a HC at a D1 level can not do everything themselves. They need to be experts at teaching every facet of the game of baseball and they have to have coaches that believe in their philosophy and stand behind that philosophy, when you an individual who thinks they are better, that can create a how do you say it? power struggle if you will, you get finger pointing and you get players saying things and eventually a program can erode. Been there, seen it, have had it done to me as well and it's not pretty, but truth being told, you won't find a better person and teacher of the game than Dave and I do hope in 2011 he gets another opp to build a program like he did with the others he was at before Notre Dame.
I like what ND is doing now and as one person stated, they are out there working the trail and making contacts. It's great to recruit, but it's also great to deliver what you told the kids you would do, and that's help them improve their skills, get a great education, and perhaps a shot at pro ball if things work out.
Sobkowiak is one player I think would back Dave up and I'm sure there are others, even Pollock.
I wish ND a lot of luck this coming year and one thing I had told a few co-hearts of mine was, watch ND win the Big East in 2011. IT might be a reach or a "way out there" statement, but let's see what transposes next spring!
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