I went to school there, and have followed the program fairly close the last few years.
TJ has been there since about 1996 so there is some stability there. But the two assistants, Jackson and Hobbs are fairly new, just joining the staff in the last 2-3 years. They lost their pitching coach Tony Vitello a couple years ago and I have seen a decline in the overall program. They went from making a regional in 7 straight years to going 2 years without making one. Then they won the Big 12 tourney this season to go back. Mizzou has been built around pitching but the last few years they have had numerous high school pitchers drafted and never set foot on campus. Also, some injuries to their top pitchers has really hurt.
PLuses:
-Moving to SEC should equate to better recruiting. Getting more northern kids a shot to play in that conference.
--Stability in coaching staff, with TJ there for so long and Hobbs being a Mizzou guy, they should stay together a while along with Jackson, the RC.
--Hobbs does seem to get the most out of what he has to work with.
Minuses:
--Moving to the SEC. I have a bad feeling they are going to get beat up fairly regularly now that they are in the SEC. Just too much quality baseball. But it will be good for me to see some of these teams now that they will have games closer to home.
--Facilities. The stadium is nice and all, but no way is it a SEC level stadium. It could be the smallest in the conference.
--Fan support. They may average 500 a game. Friday games are usually around 1500. Just not a lot of people go watch it. I dont know if having two pro teams in the state hurt attendance, but it is very low. When they hosted a regional a few years ago, there were around 3000 fans. I think mid week games for some future opponents get that many.
--TJ may be on the hot seat. He was staring at 3 straight years on no regionals until the nice run to win the Big 12. Dont know how much patience Alden the AD will have now that they are moving.
Good news is that there is a press conference tomorrow and rumor is that they are announcing that some private donors are giving a huge donation to the university. You know most will go to football, but there has been talk about a good chunk going to baseball and softball. I hope that is true.
I went to Mizzou and it is a great place and you get a good education. The journalism program is maybe the best in the country. I know the med, vet, and law schools are all top notch.
Sorry that I tend to know more about Mizzou as a fan/graduate. My son is a 2013 and Mizzou is his dream school, (and mine for him) but it is probably out of his reach, so we havent had too much contact with the coaches. Good luck.
