need genuine advice for college freshman

Your post is confusing on one front.  

Is this a small D1 or a small D3?   If it's a small D3 there is no redshirting except for medical reasons. 

If I were you, I would stay out of this  completely.  

As for your son,  I would advise him to seize opportunity he is being given with complete gusto and determination, without complaining, belly aching, etc.  He needs to work like hell to make the most of it.  Take extra reps before and/or after practice.   Study everything there is to study about playing ss and try like heck to implement it.  

Let the rest take care of itself. 

The kid should be flattered that they want him to learn ss.  It's the premium defensive position on the field.   That the coach thinks he has the ability and athleticism to learn to play shortstop  -- even if he can't start right now -- is a testament to the coach's belief in his outstanding athletic ability.   He shouldn't screw up  by complaining and whining.   

Hate to be so blunt.   But guys are asked to learn new positions all the time.  The guys who take the challenge seriously and work their tails off to learn often go far.  The guys who refuse and complain are often left by the wayside. 

His attitude needs to be "whatever is best for the team, Coach."  Period. 

Not a lot of freshmen step in and start at a D1.  If the coach feels he can use him at SS, even if it means not playing a lot, I'd go with it...at least for now.  It's obvious there isn't a spot for him at OF right now, or he'd be there.....though I'm fairly sure I've never heard of an OF being moved to SS....especially at a D1.  If it's me...I play where the coach wants me...at least for now...and see where things go.

Looks like there is a need the coach wants your son to fill.  Most freshman work hard to get on the field at ANY position.  Repeat, ANY position.  

Keewartson played a different MIF position as a freshman than he had played before. He was grateful for the opportunity to play, esp as a freshman.

If he is hitting in the spring, the coach will make sure he is in the lineup.  Better to have some practice at SS, since the coach knows he can play OF.

agree with what's been posted so far.  I take this as a compliment, and not as a wasted year.  

Work hard, let the chips fall where they will.  Does the boy like the school, or are there issues there, too?

Stools22:

Read some of your past posts.   I now see that your son is at a D3.   So definitely,  redshirting, except for medical reasons, is not an option. 

In particular this one: 

http://community.hsbaseballweb...-switching-positions

which suggest that your son actually brought up the idea of switching positions  to his coach, on his own, apparently thinking that his size makes him implausible as a college CF.    

There is also this one:

http://community.hsbaseballweb...from-hs-to-college-1

which suggest that he's been thinking about switching positions for a long time, even before entering college.

So the total picture you paint is a little confusing.

Over the years watching college ball I developed my theory about freshmen players. To a coach Freshman players are like Christmas presents. The new school year is like Christmas day for a coach. He gets all these new presents (Freshmen) and then he gets to play with them. Some he plays with more than others but after awhile he remembers all the fun he had with the presents that he got the previous years. It is when he knows how all the presents play with each other he has a team.

Now that my metaphor is done; it is not uncommon to use preseason games to see how the new freshman perform; it establishes them as productive teammates, it shows them that they can play, it allows the coaches to see how they handle pressure. If a team is going to go deep in the season, there is nothing like an experienced and tested bench.

I have watched the school where my son went now ten-years ago. Every year the first 6-8 games the coach generally starts most of the freshman. I remember going to opening series 3-years ago, I watched a freshman play in the first game of the season as a pitcher, he performed well, then he was used sparsely the next two seasons. Last year he was a starter and a major contributor. I am convinced that getting your freshmen experience from the beginning is instrumental in building a strong and deep program.

Another example for your son would be Buster Posey.  Recruited to Florida State as a SS/MIF (and even pitcher), he made the switch to catcher his sophomore year and the rest is history. 

5tool,

I am pretty sure I posted in one of your threads before, which was a somewhat similar topic.  At this point, I wonder if you might be too involved.

On the one hand, you say the coach at the D3 knows your son can hit (as a way of explaining why he did not get AB's) but in another sentence, you wonder if the Coach ever saw your son play before?

The immediate observation is these two thoughts don't seem to mesh: 

"Coach told him he needs to prove himself...btw,coach appears to have never seen him play before college, which is odd to me to recruit someone you have never seen play at all."

"coach already knows you can hit...in his only AB he took 2 pitches and drove the third 360 in the gap without even squaring it up, and yes hes the smallest guy on the team..."

How could this Head Coach "know" your son can hit and is one of the teams best hitters (against college pitching) when they are just starting Fall Ball, if the coach never saw him play before he set foot on the college field?  Just one personal experience of our son: when he was a freshman, his team scrimmaged a JC and they went almost 10 hours and 30 innings.  The upper classmen got their AB's in the first game.  Our son got AB's throughout all 30 innings. To balance against your observation, mine would be college coaches want freshman to see as much college pitching as possible to see where they might be over-matched and how they adjust, as well as to coach them on each.

If your son is as gifted, physically, as you describe, there should be no reason he cannot make the adjustments his new HC is talking about.  When I read your posts, the impression I get is the coaching staff at his college are "hearing" too much from your son about where he "wants" to play (and perhaps why-a scout said so?).  I fully understand you must have talked with your son and received his feedback on how he played when put in the OF, but that can be quite different from how his play was viewed by the coaching staff.

At the core, though, this seems like a major question mark in terms of mindset:

"son does not want to lose a year of eligibility playing backup IF, when he feels his skills in OF and bat are starting material right now even at a small D1 (let alone a small D3).."

Asking for honest and frank opinions can get some without frosting.  When I read this, I honestly wonder how any player or his parent could think they would be a starting OF as a freshman at a small D1, before they have played a single game in college at a small D3.  In addition, it reads like "I am too good for this place" in some ways.

If teammates get the impression on the latter, that is not healthy. If coaches get the impression on the former, that is not healthy.

Sorry for the lack of frosting but your son is now a college freshman. I don't know what "small," Southern D3 he is attending, but if he is at a program such as Millsaps, for instance, he would have his hands full even if he could start at a small D1.

Good luck to your son.  My suggestion continues to be to relax as his parent, realize you don't have experience in what he is experiencing and support him in working through the challenges by having him work through them with his coaching staff and teammates.

I want to share an observation I had as a former D3 player. Every single year we had freshmen come in to fall ball expecting to get the same innings/ab's that the older guys get. Now, this is only bad if the player has a selfish attitude towards the situation. We've had a lot of guys come in who had the attitude of "I'm ONLY at a D3 school when I know I can be playing at a D2 or D3, therefore, I should be playing every game, practice, etc."

The truth is that spots need to be earned at every level. From my experience a lot of freshmen come into D3 schools and take a big bite of humble pie. D3 guys can play the game and just because you had 3-4 guys on your hs team go D1 does not make you entitled to anything at a D3.

5tools, know that I am not at all accusing your son of this, just wanted to share a frequent observation that I had while at my D3 school.

Awesome! Just gotta keep fighting.

Looking back on my college career there are many things that I disagree with in regards to how my coaching staff handled my talents. With that being said I have zero regrets because I can confidently say I did whatever they asked me to do and I gave it my best possible effort. There's a lot of satisfaction that comes with that.

The best advice I can give is what I told my college son.  You only need to know two words as a college athlete, 'yes sir'.  Mine pitched, played the of, 1st, and dh last year at a very good D2 college.  Say 'yes sir' have a bag full of gloves and stay in the line up!

Any position on the field is better than one in the dugout.

5 tools, that is SO awesome. Congrats to you and your boy!