For the most part, the players simply aren't mentally tough enough or talented enough to play at the SEC level. I know you didn't want to hear the "no talent excuse", but it is valid in this case.
People seem to have forgotten, a lot of these players couldn't field or throw under Polk either. You can't bring in a coach and all of a sudden their talent level increases or their mental toughness increases. The skill is either there or it isn't.
I don't question this teams effort. It's there. I think they try too hard instead of "just play the game" because they are lacking in mental toughness. And that is a component of talent, to me.
I've seen people talk about how "Polk's guys are the only ones that hit"- yet if you look at Polk's boys stats, their best season offensively, that came under Cohen's staff for most of the players- Ryan Collins being the lone exception.
We've been looking at third strikes for YEARS under Polk II. A lot of people have forgotten about that apparently. The defense has been about as bad as well, but a lot of people didn't notice because of the crappy pitching.
I don't think the staff has lost control of the team at all. I think the team will gel better next year when a lot of Polk's guys are gone, though. I think they had some preconceived notions about Cohen because of what Polk told them about him and that has hurt a lot as well. Polk's guys would do anything for him and take his word as gold.
Bottom line: Our guys don't play. They're all worried about getting yelled at or losing playing time for screwing up. They can't handle pressure of any sort. People have to understand that Polk's players came to us with the assumption that:
A. they would be promised a job and would start at whatever position regardless of how they performed or the guys behind them
B. They would not get jumped on. It was always "just baseball" if something didn't work out.
If you want to know why Polk won, it was because he had talent. Even in his second tenure, he was left with a first round pick Fri. night starter for two years, and a guy that is one of the top closers in MLB right now, as well as a MLB catcher in Craig Tatum. Later, he added Ed Easley, Jeffrey Rea, Mitch Moreland, and Aaron Weatherford among others. The talent level was starting to go down, but Polk was able to manage to get just enough to stay afloat until 2008 when it all hit the fan. The only guy that we have now from the Polk era that is even in that stratosphere is Conner Powers.
People talk about the JUCO guys that Cohen brought in- they have struggled for the most part, but they were brought in to fill gaps, not be impact guys. Ogden has played well at SS defensively, and Vickerson has hit OK. Jaron Shepherd has brought us some much needed team speed, and Wes Thigpen can play defense pretty well.
I like the freshmen pitchers for the most part. They are only going to get better. And next year, don't be surprised to see a lot of freshmen position players start. The only way to fix our problems are to bring in better players.