Chris Stratton on the MSU coaches

[Rutherford B Hays]

"I went undrafted out of high school and came out a first-rounder, so that has to say something about the development of what you can have at Mississippi State. The coaches on our staff are just outstanding."

That would get my attention if I were a recruit.

BTW, who is Stratton's agent? I assume its Bo McKinnis since he gets 95% of MSU players. If my son were in that position, I'd say to pick Scott Boras. Boras is a turd, but he flat out gets results.

 

[Rutherford B Hays]

"I went undrafted out of high school and came out a first-rounder, so that has to say something about the development of what you can have at Mississippi State. The coaches on our staff are just outstanding."

That would get my attention if I were a recruit.

BTW, who is Stratton's agent? I assume its Bo McKinnis since he gets 95% of MSU players. If my son were in that position, I'd say to pick Scott Boras. Boras is a turd, but he flat out gets results.

 

[Rutherford B Hays]

"I went undrafted out of high school and came out a first-rounder, so that has to say something about the development of what you can have at Mississippi State. The coaches on our staff are just outstanding."

That would get my attention if I were a recruit.

BTW, who is Stratton's agent? I assume its Bo McKinnis since he gets 95% of MSU players. If my son were in that position, I'd say to pick Scott Boras. Boras is a turd, but he flat out gets results.

 

[srdawg]

bump for good pub

 

[Todd4State]

I agree with you- Boras is the best agent out there.

 

[Coach34]

.

 

[The Peeper]

 

[dawgs.sixpack]

BTW, who is Stratton's agent? I assume its Bo McKinnis since he gets 95% of MSU players. If my son were in that position, I'd say to pick Scott Boras. Boras is a turd, but he flat out gets results.

with the new slotting for draft picks, draft picks aren't going to be able to hold out and demand significantly higher money than their draft slot. stratton's got plenty of time to switch agents before he really needs a big time negotiator.

 

[Dubs.sixpack]

..but I did play for both Polk and Cohen. Players that played for only Cohen will speak well of him partly because they feel that way and partly because they don't know any different. Players that played for Polk were treated with more respect and therefore don't like Cohen's shenanigan's. I also think there's some former players that are Polk loyalists pulling against Cohen. Not saying it's right but it's true. There's definitely players that hate Cohen. Don't ever doubt that. I'm not one of them as his staff was a better fit for me than Polk's was. And in Stratton's case, when a staff gets you $1.8 mill you shouldn't have too many bad things to say. To be fair, you also need to see what players that transferred have to say as well. But hey, this is SPS and fair doesn't matter.<div>
</div><div>As for Stratton's comments. He's being polite by referring to the whole coaching staff but what he really is means is that Butch Thompson is one of the best around. That's who developed him. You put Russ McNickle on this staff and Stratton is back for his senior year....if not rehabbing from surgery. Stratton also was good enough to get drafted out high school and if you saw him pitch when he arrived on campus you would know that. He was a firm commitment and the Pro scouts said we'll see you in three years. Butch simply took a raw block of stone and chiseled it. Well done on his part and well done on Cohen for sticking with Butch after an awful pitching staff in 2009-2010. Also know that Butch is now on a list for other schools. The good and bad part of success. Hope we're able to keep him.</div><div>
</div><div>Rutherford B Hays, you don't pick Boras. He picks you. When your son is throwing upper 90's with a nasty slider I'm sure Boras will be calling.</div>

 

[dawgstudent]

[No message]

 

[Shmuley]

nm

 

[Coach34]

is that they are polar opposites. And that is always tough on players when a coaching change takes place. The basketball program is going thru that right now and Hood was a casualty from it. He couldnt handle the switch.

Obviously Butch gets most of the credit with Stratton- he's the pitching coach. And he is doing a damn fine job.

Polk's former players can get on board or they can get out of the way- because Cohen has taken control of the program and he is going to be here awhile. He and his staff are putting together a National Championship caliber pitching staff. Hopefully the defense and hitting do their part next Spring

 

[Dubs.sixpack]

But the reality is we just finished year 4 and had to get hot to make a regional and then lost to a Baptist school twice that isn't named Baylor.I don't think we can call it a national championship caliber program until we consistently beat the South Carolina's, Florida's, LSU's, and Arkansas's of the conference. Is Cohen not 0-16 in series against those schools since he's been here? I could be wrong. (And Polk, injuries, and an old stadium can't excuse everything.) I use those schools as examples because I think they have the 4 best coaches in the conference and play pretty consistent every year. There's reason to be optimistic but you can't put us in the same sentence with those schools yet. I'm sure people thought Bianco was going to win a NC for the past 7 years and he can't make it out of a Super. The reality is opposing pitching staff's don't fear our lineup or our approach to hitting. As long as we have little power and get thrown out by making stupid decisions we'll always be a team that has potential but never reaches it. It's similar to our football team (maybe with baseball recruiting better), there's no doubt improvement has been made over the previous staff and other teams see that. The problem is, other teams still see us as typical MSU until we start beating good teams and that has yet to happen. I know this because I have friends that play/played in other SEC baseball programs who have told me this. I think overall, if it doesn't happen next year it won't happen period. Not a NC but definitely a host and Omaha appearance. After year 5 I think a lot of optimism will be lost on both the coaches and players part if results don't show up. We simply can't afford that.<div>
</div><div>However, as a good MSU fan should, I'll wait until next year!!
</div><div>
</div><div>Also, I think we'll be happy with the job Mingione does with his new promotion. He deserved it and will be the hardest working assistant in the country. He's an MSU guy that I'm proud to have him represent us...most of the time!</div><div>
</div><div>
</div>

 

[Dubs.sixpack]

Butch we'll have a competitive pitching staff and that will keep us in games every year. We have to keep him. Also funny that most people wanted him gone after year two. Funny what a difference in keeping a pitching staff healthy makes.

 

[patdog]

The sad fact is, Polk and some of his former players have been trying to sabotage our baseball program ever since Cohen was hired. The sooner we can cut all ties with him the better.. We should have taken his name off the stadium when he said he wanted us to and not put it back up. Polk's record speaks for itself:

1st 14 years at MSU - 4 CWS appearancesplus 3 regional finals (equivalent of a super regional today)
2nd 14 years at MSU - 2 CWS appearanceswith no additionalsuper regionals.

 

[Tds &amp; Beer]

I don't think we can call it a national championship caliber program until we consistently beat the South Carolina's, Florida's, LSU's, and Arkansas's of the conference. Is Cohen not 0-16 in series against those schools since he's been here? I could be wrong.<div>
</div>

We were 3-2 against LSU and 2-2 against Arkansas this year. Don't act like we're not making progress. Next year will go a long way in determining what Cohen is doing.

 

[Dubs.sixpack]

[No message]

 

[missouridawg]

6-9 against theteams you listed, with 2 blowns saves. One was a 4 run eighth inning in Columbia, the other was a10th inning blown save in Baton Rouge (2 runs).

We were:
0-3 against USC
2-2 against Ark
3-2 against LSU
1-2 against UF

We're not far off at all against those guys, in my opinion.

 

[Dubs.sixpack]

Let's wait and see what he can pull off this upcoming year. If we stay healthy, I expect big things. If we don't...then we are cursed.

 

[maroonmania]

because WAY too many things have to go right to accomplish that, I do feel we are NOW in a position to start challenging for Omaha on a yearly basis. And its been a LONG time since I felt that way. Any yes, IMO, going to Omaha in 2007 was a fluke just like had we gotten through to Omaha last year after being a #3 seed at GT's regional would have been pretty much a fluke. Our program under Cohen has just now gotten built to the point that Omaha is a reasonable expectation. And yes, our hitting HAS to improve but we did replace nearly our entire lineup this year from last year and the new bats have decreased offensive production across the board. And of course the BIGGEST issue with the offense this year was injuries. Plug into our lineup for the entire year a fully healthy CT Bradford, Daryl Norris, Brent Brownlee, DeMarcus Henderson and Wes Rea and we likely have enough offense to back up the league's best pitching staff. Heck, Norris was batting above .350 when he got injured and CT Bradford was a freshman all-american. We also had to endure a near 0 for 40 slump from Rea due to a mass in his shoulder that was later diagnosed and removed where he basically couldn't feel his arm. The bright side though is that next year's offensive depth should be much better due to getting many more at bats for true freshmen players like Britton and Fullerton. We should also add some nice bats into the lineup next year with Nic Flair and Daniel Garner available. Oh, and by the way, we WERE actually 5-4 against LSU and Arkansas this year thank you.

 

[alabamadog]

But the reality is we just finished year 4 and had to get hot to make a regional and then lost to a Baptist school twice that isn't named Baylor.

This team was a two seed, and you are making it sound like they were one of the last couple teams in the bracket.

I don't think we can call it a national championship caliber program until we consistently beat the South Carolina's, Florida's, LSU's, and Arkansas's of the conference. Is Cohen not 0-16 in series against those schools since he's been here?

He won his first conference series against South Carolina, and Florida wasn't on the schedule in year one. That is still a terrible series record against these teams, but the important thing is the entire season, not what has happened against a few teams.

 

[Coach34]

"2nd 14 years at MSU - 2 CWS appearances with no additional super regionals"


Polk did a great job at State early in his career, but became a casualty of his own success. Once he showed the SEC money could be made in baseball- the other schools started taking it seriously. And once they did, we have become a middle of the pack SEC program. I want to compete with the best in the SEC also- and do things like win SEC titles- you know, like we did last month. Cohen has had to rebuild the program- and the task was much harder than anybody thought due to the lack of pitching he inherited in the program.

The last 2 seasons we have made the SEC Tourney- winning 1 of them. We have made regionals both seasons- winning one. We are on the right path, and moving upward as a program. You already have 2 of the top publications on college baseball calling us a leader in the race to Omaha next season. I dont see how anybody can complain about the direction of the program at this point.

 

[Foronce]

next year our friday and sunday guy could both be soph with less than 62.1 total ip last year and no SEC regular season starts
While I am very excited about Woodruff and Lindgren I wouldn't be all that surprised if they struggled next year

I am just saying while we do return a talented staff, we don't return an overly experience talented staff
I think if you are expecting or thinking our season is a failure if we don't win a super next year is a little much

 

[coach66]

unfortunate. I hope one day we can see him come back with his hat in his hand and be a part of what he built and the expectations he set.

 

[maroonmania]

in the dictionary you could just put a picture of Coach Polk there in his second tour as MSU HC. And to be honest our fanbase worship of him allowed for that and also, and its just a fact, Coach Polk refused to make the roster moves with his players that you have to make in today's college baseball world to compete for championships. Its a shame the NCAA has put baseball into this unfavorable situation and its admirable that Polk refused to treat his players as commodities BUT if you want to win at the highest levels tough choices have to be made and Polk wasn't willing to make them. Nor was he willing to go out and really recruit in talent to MSU that you need to compete in the SEC that didn't happen to want to come to his camps.

 

[HammerOfTheDogs]

...probably players at Alabama who hate Saban now...but he brings results, ie, National Championships and high NFL draft picks. He also burns through assistants. If Cohen happens to have the best Pitching coach in America, then it's good that Cohen knows how to pick good assistants.<div id="isChromeWebToolbarDiv" style="display:none"></div><div>
</div><div>If Polk was smart, he'd have retired after 2007, and let Tommy Raffo take over. However, he had to be a huge prick and whine like a little baby when he was let go.</div>

 

[patdog]

was the day Polk unretired back in 1992 when he announced his retirement early in the season and then changed his mind a few weeks before the season was over. Polk was never the same coach after then. We made a huge mistake when we brought him back in 2002, but that wasn't the1st time we made that mistake with Polk.

 

[HammerOfTheDogs]

He quit in 1992 and then "unretired" where he basically spent more time fighting the NCAA and promoting amateur baseball, than coaching OUR school. In 1997, he quit after he put Pat MacMahon in place. In 2008, he quit after making us endure our first losing season since plaid pants were popular. <div id="isChromeWebToolbarDiv" style="display:none"></div><div>
</div><div>
</div>

 

[futaba.79]

and are you going to tell me you thought it was a mistake to let him unretire in '91? Really? Zacharias or Templeton should have told the 47 year old Polk No, you can't change your mind?

 

[engie]

Next year is the best chance we'll likely have in this "run". We stand to lose quite a few of our position players to the draft, as well as alot more of our pitching. SEC baseball is, for the most part, a 3 year scholarship(for the teams that are competing). There will ALWAYS be sophs expected to play major, fully "grown up" roles on these teams. Imagine Arky without Stanek, who was a SO...

Aaron Fitt and Kendall Rogers both think we should make it to OMAHA next year. I'm not saying that we're a lock, but it is reasonable to start expecting more. The team is fully rebuilt now... and the time for patience is over. We should be a MUCH better team next year than we were this year.

 

[patdog]

By about 1994, I was sure it was a mistake. People don't just decide to retire for no reason. There's a reason, and it's almost always a good idea to just accept the resignation and move on and hope the coach doesn't change his mind.

If you look at the historyof coaches who quit a school and then changed their mind and stayed, there's almost always a pretty dramatic downturn in their record. Just look at Florida after Urban Meyer unretired. In basketball, look at a Bobby Cremins. And I really think you can even look at Rick Stansbury after he changed his mind about leaving MSU for the Clemson job.

 

[slickdawg]

was the day Polk unretired back in 1992 when he announced his retirement early in the season and then changed his mind a few weeks before the season was over. Polk was never the same coach after then. We made a huge mistake when we brought him back in 2002, but that wasn't the1st time we made that mistake with Polk.

In 1992, he was reaching a new level of disdain with the NCAA, and I can understand that. Maybe he figured he would keep earning a salary while fighting that fight, so he decided to "keep" us while directing his attention to something other than us.

Then a great thing happened, we got Pat McMahon back, Polk announced he was retiring and would continue his fight with the NCAA. It was a win-win for everyone, Polk gets to go fight the NCAA full time, LT gave him a office to work from in his pursuits against the NCAA, McMahon did well as our head coach. Polk went to the CWS in his last year, McMahon went in his first year as head coach.

McMahon's parents were getting up in age and needing help, UF offered him their job, he went. Can't blame him, family comes first.

Then the nuclear weapon was executed by LT: The return of the angry, washed up coach. I'll never forget an interview with Polk right after this transpired "I knew my good friend LT would be calling me about the job ......"

We are just starting to recover from the damage done.

 

[maroonmania]

its almost always a mistake. If their heart isn't fully in it they just won't be as successful as they would be otherwise.

 

[futaba.79]

but there was no way Templeton or Zacharias could have survived not taking him back. I recall being thrilled he came back.

The mistake was hiring him back when Mac left. I questioned that quite a bit. In Templeton's defense, I'm not sure he had much of a choice. Polk wanted to come back and he had just produced a CWS team at Georgia.

 

[patdog]

I just strongly suspect that one big reason he changed his mind was because he was talked out of it. And that was a mistake. I'll be the first to admit that I didn't fully realize this until about 2-3 years after it happened.

 

[Todd4State]

At least we lost to a "Baptist school" in a regional. One that had three top 12 round draft picks on it. Maybe if Polk had recruited better we wouldn't have had a team with a plethora of sophomores on it.

And what's with the Baptist thing? Can't dance and now we can't hit or play baseball.**

The Polk loyalists crack me up- first it was Cohen won't win the first two years, we go to a SR and then it's "we haven't had a SEC winning season under Cohen" and now it's "well, we can't beat Florida." That alone should show that there is improvement and progression.

It's also funny because Polk was the king of excuses- this year we would have been young and that's baseball. This team played through injuries and despite their inexperience and they had a good season.

We will see what next year holds, but as competitive as we are, I think we will be OK.

And when I say Polk loyalists- I'm not necessarily referring to you, but in general, so please don't take too much offense to me.

 

[NTDawg]

the program back then

 

[Todd4State]

a baseball player, coach, or on the staff at that time.

 

[NTDawg]

are a player, coach or on staff now?

 

[patdog]

nm