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27 replies

Coach resigned...now what?

kb2610kb2610100+ posts
I wasn't sure whether to post this here, on the recruiting forum, or at all. I apologize if this isn't the correct place for this.

We just learned that the head coach of a local D1, where my son committed, resigned yesterday, ostensibly for health reasons. It's also been announced that the school will make a "nation-wide search" for a replacement, which I guess means the whole staff may be gone.

Although my wife and I are still very pleased with the school itself (and my son seems enamored with the school), having read about the situation at LSU with Paul Manieri, I'm worried about this development. I haven't yet had an opportunity to discuss it with my son, to see what HIS wishes are, but when I do, what can/should I tell him are his options and possible scenarios? By sharing my concerns, I don't want to unnecessarily worry either my wife or son, nor do I want to put any additional performance pressure on my son for next year (although I suppose that will be an unavoidable fact). Any recommendations on how to best handle/explore this? BTW, my son already knows of the resignation...

I assume we can just sit tight and hope for the best, awaiting the new coach...anything we do is probably premature until then. However, IF that doesn't work out well, I also suppose my son would have to ask for/obtain his "release" before other D1/D2 programs would be at liberty to talk with him/us...and it's likely too late to get anything accomplished w/ them for this upcoming year, anyway. It seem the best/only realistic option is to ride it out through next year, knowing the worst-case scenario would be non-renewal and having to "sit out" a year, unless he can latch on at a NAIA or JUCO program? What about D2s?

Just when I thought everything was so settled and rosy! As Roseanne Roseannadanna would say, "It's always something!"
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AcademyDadAcademyDad500+ posts
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As so many have stated here in the past.... never chose a school solely for the coach. The question one should ask when choosing a school is... would you still want to stay if you tore an ACL and it was all over for baseball?

Now that is already behind you, but I agree with the other posters that the main concern right now is personal performance via preparedness, regardless of the personnel.

cadDAD

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kb2610kb2610100+ posts
I believe my son considered the school itself as important as the baseball program...maybe more so.
As I think I said earlier, any decision is premature until the new HC is identified. I certainly allow, as Bee suggests, its possible the assistant could be promoted. However, in the meantime, since my son is understandably anxious about how this development COULD impact him, I want to be able to answer his anticipated questions about possible scenarios/options in an informed way.
observer44observer441,000+ posts
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For about the tenth time...getting ahead of your self...Hold tight, remember, you are sold on the school...

If I had to do something I would call the assistants, or the AD to get an affirmation or "a read"...but I would also take that with grain of salt...

They are certainly working hard to find a top coach...maybe they really do well...when he gets hired make an appopintment to connect...

keep preparing...don't overthink this...

If it goes bad, there may be a great deal more time and opportunity than you think...

Cool 44
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L lafmom5,000+ posts
kb - My son had the coach of the school he had signed with resign at the end of July that summer before he was to start. To make a long story short, there was another issue with the school we were concerned about to begin with. So, when the coach left, we began to panic, quickly visited two schools and signed with one of them. HUGE mistake! He should have stayed right where he had originally chosen.... was still highly desired by the new coach, still has his scholly of course, and loved the school as he had since he'd first visited. Fear can be a powerful and often times ignorant driver of our emotions and actions.

If I can offer any advice, it's that there's plenty of time for your son to consider options. Whatever, y'all do though, do not make a rash decision because you feel pressured.

Good luck!
infielddadinfielddad10,000+ posts
kb2610, I am of a slightly different view than many of the current posts.
I do agree that there isn't any need to get ahead of the situation and start to contemplate other school options. On the other hand, I think it is very important for you to have reached out to get insight into what those options might be and how and when to consider them.
I would carefully research the background of the AD and her past hires. The fact that she brought in such a very high profile basketball coach could be important.
She comes from Stanford via Santa Clara. You can, perhaps, get some guidance by what she did when she replaced the head coach at Santa Clara.
When she was the AD at Santa Clara, the coaching changes were pretty dramatic, locally and within the coaching ranks. When those changes were made, there was much commentary about upgrading the program, being nationally competitive, returning to Omaha and the like. It was also associated with new money into the program and facilities.
Change can be unsettling. Change can also work very much for the better. That would be a marvelous development for your son.
Bottom line, I think you are right to be asking "what does this mean." I think you are right to do what you can to control the few things you can in a situation where most things you cannot due to the NLI.
The one thing that has not been mentioned and should is that your son needs to workout this summer as he has never before. When he shows up for that first day of baseball, no matter who is coaching, you want that coach to know your son came prepared. It will be a bit harder without a coach in place because you won't have a true workout summer weight/training schedule from the new coach. I would work around that so your son goes to school better prepared to play than he has ever been before.
Last edited by infielddad
infielddadinfielddad10,000+ posts
The parents are not the ones who are playing and competing.
As I said, their son needs to be better prepared than he has ever been before because he is going to be playing for a coach with whom he has no familiarity.
The parents can certainly do the other work that involves what you call mental energy. If you remember, when Kentucky changed coaches, there was more than one thread about what happened mid year and the amount of turnover that occurred. Put in the forthcoming NCAA changes on scholarships, and you increase the unknowns.
_________________________________________________
"If you can't live with the new coach as the year
progresses then you look at options."
________________________________________________


I am not suggesting they prepare for that, at all. I am suggesting they explore the AD's handling of the situation at Santa Clara to assess whether the new coach might be given a goal and objective to upgrade the program and what that might mean.
These parents have gone from relative comfort to discomfort in a very short time. It does not sound like they got any type of call or notification from the coaching staff addressing what is happening.
I don't know how many times it gets posted on this site that you must take control over the process when it comes to college baseball. These parents asked a very legitimate question.
My view is much different than yours in terms of "wasting" energy.
Whatever they do with their time and energy, I think it is clear what their son should be doing with his.
Last edited by infielddad
B Bee>1,000+ posts
quote:
by ifdad: as I said, their son needs to be better prepared than he has ever been before .. because he is going to be playing for a coach with whom he has no familiarity
can't really argue with the first part,

however almost every HC is a totaly different animal when the player gets on campus than he was thru the "courtship" of the recruiting process ...
and even the "familiar" coach who stroked your ego while recruiting has long forgoten the compliments & BS he told you and everyone else will be relentlessly working ya till you puke

Roll Eyes
Last edited by Bee>
MN-MomMN-MomHSBaseballWeb Owner
I also want to add that while I think all of the posts above give good and useful advice, I hope that kb2610 will take the comments to "not get ahead of yourself" as encouragement and not scolding.

As the parent of a current college player, I can certainly understand that kb2610 would have concerns and questions! Much like if I accepted a job working for a great boss, then shortly before I started that job, learned that the boss resigned ... I would have some questions and concerns. And that's what our forums are for of course, asking your questions! Big Grin

My son went through the situation of the college coach who recruited him resigning. It happened very abruptly after the first pre-season game of his freshman year. The situation definitely caused some upheaval and uncertainty for players. The new coach is good, but focused very heavily in his first two years on bringing in unusually large numbers of new JUCO transfers, leading the previously recruited players to wonder if they were competing for playing time on even ground.

But as someone mentioned above, college players are always competing against new faces for playing time, and they just have to work as hard as they can to be the best player they can be.

Best wishes to you and your son, kb! Hopefully this college continues to be a great choice for him!

Julie
F FloridaHokie100+ posts
My son and his teammates are facing that unknown around the curve... Their head coach was fired today. ...son called me from the road on his way to the Cape for the summer. ...great dissappointment and uncertainty. They just lost their senior leaders, and now the coaching staff as well. It's not clear where the leadership or glue for the team will emerge.

...think they're in something of a "hunker down" mode right now. Some disbelief and denial. Some anger. Acute dissappointment. Uncertainty. What does it mean for the team? What does it mean for me?

He loves his school, and I couldn't imagine him leaving. ...but he loved his coaches as well.

He'll have to be patiently optimistic. Fortunately, he can turn his attention to summer ball. However, it's sometimes difficult to ward off anxiety about the unknown.
Last edited by FloridaHokie
Infield08Infield081,000+ posts
I think kb2610 asks some very valid questions. It's better to be fully prepared and know what to expect than simply sit back and watch everything unfold. Yes, the end result may be wonderful. But it might also be catastrophic. I know that when Coach Childress came to A&M a couple of years ago, he did quite a bit of housecleaning.

Many people on this site have said that baseball recruiting is quite subjective. Some coaches will think you are the hot tamale, while others are totally turned off by your body type, by the way you move, by the color of your hair -- you name it. Who knows how this new coach will view his inherited players. Hopefully, he will love each and every one of them. But there's nothing wrong in trying to be a bit pro-active and putting one's ducks in a row just in case thing don't work out.
B Bee>1,000+ posts
other than some added pre-arrival uncertainty .. it basicly comes down to the same options any other player would have if their "fit" was not as they anticipated ... w/a wrinke thrown in by the new ncaa transfer rules

and btw the new scholarship limits and smaller roster rules should yield less transfer opportunities
Frown
Last edited by Bee>
shortstopmomshortstopmom1,000+ posts
We have yet to be in this situation at the college level, so the only logic I can offer is general situational advice.

I'm going to go with the " wait & let the dust settle " theme. There is no way of guessing what the future holds. You have at least a 50/50 chance of things working out, baseball wise. Add to that factor that your son is still going to the school he chose for hopefully a multitude of right reasons for him. That IMHO, makes your glass still half full, rather than half empty.

Keep a positive open mind, but as others have said,...open mind, open eyes. Have a back up plan, should things go in the wrong direction. Know what plan B is ahead of time, in case it is needed later on. Nothing like trying to make a solid decision when emotions are high.
Have your son start his season knowing he's going to go into it working for the best, and with the comfort of knowing he will make it through this roller coaster ride because he is as prepared as possible for most any scenario.

Hope that brings all of you some piece of mind as nerve wracking as this all can be!! While the unknown can be worrysome,..it can also be a blessing.

Please keep us updated as things progress. I'm thinking positive for ya!!!
Last edited by shortstopmom
observer44observer441,000+ posts
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I know it is very old school, and it is often overlooked when thinking of fit, or of transfer....

...but I have always felt that the "team" aspect of the college baseball experience was one of the biggest selling points for playing college sports. I have always told mine that learning to build and work within a team is in part why there they are there, and it is not just the coaches but their responsibility to help build that team around them.

Mine finds himself in the midst of a special group of young men, very close, very supportive of each other yet very competitive. The kind of young men he respects, he enjoys being around, and is having a great time being with. Tight enough I think that they have a sense that they can weather anything that other teams, the game, the coaching staff, the adminsitration, or circumstances can throw at them.

Again I know it is old school, but it might just be be that part of a players biggest considerations when there is a coaching change would be his peers, for lack of a better term his team. It might just be that such adversity could bring the core of the team closer. If mine were to seriously consider leaving, his teammates would weigh heavily into any decision.

Something else to consider...

Cool 44
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B BobbleheadDoll5,000+ posts
quote:
It's better to be fully prepared and know what to expect than simply sit back and watch everything unfold


This is where I have to differ.

They don't even have a new coach yet . And if you don't think you will like what is possibly going to happen, what can you do about it. They signed an LI and they have no options at that point. They need a release to have options and I don't see a new coach considering that. The only thing you can do is play your game and hope things workout.

I have known several guys who have been in this boat and most worked out very well. Others had coaches who after the year cut a bunch so he could put his own stamp on the team. A pitcher friend was at a D1 team in Arkansas living with 3 other pitchers. The coach took him aside one day and told him to find new roommates. Coach cut all his roommates. He did it at a time they could find new schools.
I can understand being concerned but you can only do what you have committed to do.
play baseballplay baseball1,000+ posts
quote:
Originally posted by BobbleheadDoll:
The only thing you can do is play your game and hope things work out.

Words of advice for just about every situation! Hope things work out!


quote:
I can understand being concerned but you can only do what you have committed to do.


Again, this is great! To paraphrase: You can only do what you can do!!!!! And then hope things work out!!!!
Last edited by play baseball
kb2610kb2610100+ posts
infielddad/infield08/shortstopmom: Thanks...that's how we're trying to look at it. We'd like to know what the options are and be prepared for all possible scenarios. In the meantime, I'm sure you're right: We, as parents, can only research his options, providing good information and support; our son needs to spend the summer playing ball, working out, start off next fall breathing a little fire, and hope this is where preparation meets opportunity.

As a family, we still feel VERY fortunate/blessed any son of ours has been given such a marvelous opportunity. If we've been kicked in the head, it was with a golden horseshoe.

Coachb25: I really like the avatar, too...I want to keep it four years!!!

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