Raffo

[myway14]

Raffo will be named new head baseball coach at 4:30

 

[myway14]

Raffo will be named new head baseball coach at 4:30

 

[myway14]

Raffo will be named new head baseball coach at 4:30

 

[AccountingDawg]

But, for your sake, You better damn well HOPE so...

 

[Goat Holder]

nm

 

[myway14]

for my sake

 

[patdog]

Raffo may very well wind up as our next head coach, but there's no way they're going to just announce him now after saying just a few days ago that there would be a national search.

 

[8dog]

that he would be named interim coach for the remainder of the year but not permanent head coach.

 

[Optimus Prime 4]

or whatever he said.

Sounds like one of our campus-wide searches.

 

[AccountingDawg]

On this board... Chill out... I'm not gonna stalk you down and cut off your hands and feet or nothing...

Geeze...

 

[patdog]

Polk could step down today with Raffo finishing out the rest of the season. That's what should have happened 2 weeks ago. But he won't be named the permanent head coach.</p>

 

[RebelBruiser]

I could definitely see that, especially because it would save Polk the trouble of getting chased each game.

My guess is that one of the beefs with Raffo (legitimately) would be his lack of head coaching experience, therefore it wouldn't surprise me for Polk to step down just so he could get Raffo the rubber stamp of head coaching experience so the AD would have to consider him to have been a head coach before even if it's only for 25 games or so.

 

[DowntownDawg]

...

 

[State82]

from a player's dad week before last was that Polk was going to give it a couple of weeks and if nothing had been done by the University regarding Raffo, he would step down and name TR interim coach to finish the season. We'll see.

 

[tossedoff]

How can Polk name anyone the interim coach? I say Byrne should name McNickle, just to assert some power.

 

[patdog]

I say Byrne should name McNickle, just to assert some power.

That would be a very bad idea. If Polk steps down, we need to name Raffo interim coach. It's not a direct slap in Polk's face to hire a proven head coach. It would be a direct slap in his face to pass over Raffo for McNickle as interim head coach. The best thing is to go ahead and name Raffo interim coach and then offer the job to Cohen, Smith, or somebody else at the end of the season.</p>

 

[tossedoff]

I am just tired of Polk seeming to think he can call all the shots. Someone needs to pull out an organizational chart and explain it to him.

 

[Xenomorph]

How can Polk name anyone the interim coach? I say Byrne should name McNickle, just to assert some power.

...And yet many hated LT because they thought he was a dickhead.
</p>

 

[patdog]

There's a lot of politics involved and Polk has still got a lot of political capital. Fortunately, he's using it up quickly. Right now, Polk's the one looking like the bad guy for publicly trying to force Byrne's hand. The last thing Byrne needs to do is to let Polk off the hook by not even naming Raffo interim coach to finish out the season. Byrne needs to look like the reasonable guy who took Polk's recommendation, gave it serious consideration, and ultimately decided to hire a different permanent coach.

 

[Your Dawgness]

We will soon find out what kind of AD we have by this hire.......Raffo is way down my list which is only 2 coaches long ( Raffo is not in the top 3)

 

[MSUCostanza]

but that troll is acting like a petulant child. Getting yourself ejected from a game? WTF? He only cares about himself and his crusade against the NCAA.

 

[wpnetdawg]

I think what makes me nervous is that Raffo gets the jobs in the interim and the team's record improves.

This team has played most of its more difficult SEC schedule and is about to get healthier. I suspect the team's record improves regardless of who is coaching - Polk, Raffo, McNickle, Hedges, Team Manager #1, etc., etc.

I don't think a half-season should determine the next 20 years of baseball one way or the other. These players have already been recruited and for the most part coached to whatever they are going to be. About the only thing that could be determined now is his game management ability.

While managing a game is a large part of coaching, I don't think it is the biggest part. Think about this. If game management were the biggest determining factor in developing a program, I don't think Polk would have his name on the stadium today.

 

[Todd4State]

If this happens, I wouldn't have a problem with it. Let's see what Raffo can do. If he can't do the job, just give it to someone else. If he actually looks decent (yeah, right based on the UK series) maybe give him some consideration.

At least if we do decide to give it to him, or the chance that we can't get someone to take the job, he will at least have some experience.

Plus, there is the chance that a Raffo interim thing could blow up in Polk's face and then we can always say, "Hey, we gave him a chance, and it's just not a good fit for us."

I don't believe this rumor though, Polk's ego likes those silver platters from all the SEC schools and everyone telling hm how great he WAS. So, if there's any truth to this, then my money says that Polk's ego will back out of it at the last minute.

 

[oem]

but that troll is acting like a petulant child. Getting yourself ejected from a game? WTF? He only cares about himself and his crusade against the NCAA.

</p>Apparently he cares for Raffo a pretty good bit. Would you say the same thing about Polk if he had recommended Cohen for the job the day he announced his retirement?

 

[8dog]

and try not to keep posting it: The idea of judging Raffo's candidacy as our head coach based on some 30 games left in this season is just nonsense, one way or the other. Don't disqualify him if we go 0-30 and don't hire him if we go 30-0. Being an interim baseball coach tells less about your ability to run a program probably more than in any other sport. Honestly, I could go out there and have about the same record Raffo, Cohen or Joe Torre will have by being interim for the remainder of the year.

Baseball programs are built in recruiting, in S&C and in the fall/jan-feb.

 

[maroonmania]

by Polk's actions. I'm certainly not. The guy is an egomaniac and has been for years. He would have taken a BIG cut in pay from Georgia (where basically nobody around campus knew who he was) to come back to MSU where he is treated by most dolting MSU fans as utter royalty. He really, truly believes he should be able to control this program in every way and will NEVER bend from that belief. I just want the man gone and nowhere near campus. The sooner the better in my book.

 

[MSUCostanza]

he cares about Raffo so much, he purposely gets ejected from a game? It's HIS job to coach this team. Not Raffo's. He's putting his personal feelings for Raffo above his team and his employer.

 

[patdog]

Don't disqualify him if we go 0-30 and don't hire him if we go 30-0. Being an interim baseball coach tells less about your ability to run a program probably more than in any other sport.

Honestly, I could go out there and have about the same record Raffo, Cohen or Joe Torre will have by being interim for the remainder of the year.

1. If Raffo goes 30-0, we'd damn well better hire him.

2. No <17>ing way you would have as good of a record as any of those 3 if you were named interim coach this afternoon. Not even close. </p>

 

[8dog]

I think you are putting way too much stock into how much coaching goes on in 30 games.

And yes, I could do about as well as those guys. How hard could it be to step in and fill out a lineup card? That in itself is half the battle. Pull a pitcher when he needs to go, call a bunt when you need to. It's not rocket science.

Now running a team over the course of a calendar year and recruiting is a different story.

 

[patdog]

But it's not nearly as simple as you seem to think it is either.

 

[oem]

he cares about Raffo so much, he purposely gets ejected from a game? It's HIS job to coach this team. Not Raffo's. He's putting his personal feelings for Raffo above his team and his employer.

</p>But you said he only cares about himself and his NCAA crusade.

And I ask, once again, would you say the same thing about him if he had recommended the guy YOU want to be his replacement?

 

[patdog]

Yes, I would have a problem with the way Polk has handled this no matter who he recommended. He's done it in a very public way that shows that he thinks he's above the program or above the university for that matter. No matter who Polk endorsed for the job, the public endorsement should have been limited to, "I have recommended that the athletic director consider <blank> as the next head coach at MSU. <Blank> has done a good job as head/assistant coach at <blank> and I think he should be considered along with all the other candidates in the athletic director's decision as to who will be the next head coach."

 

[Stormrider81]

I think he should have walked into Byrne's office and said, "I think so and so should be the next head coach at MSU and here's why," and then left it at that. And I agree with you, I'm against what what he has done in the public domain no matter who he supported. Two things: first he looks like he's putting himself and his wants above the program, and secondly it makes me wonder why this candidate needs this manner of endorsing from the departing coach. A simple recommendation should be enough. If it isn't then that may indicate the guy's resume isn't up to par.

 

[MSUCostanza]

I absolutely would have a problem with it.

And his shameless promotion of Raffo speaks to his massive ego. He has a boss that is to make that decision. For some reason, he feels as though he has "earned the right" to name his replacement. He hasn't. Nobody does. He should privately suggest that Raffo replace him, and be done with it.

You really have trouble comprehending simple things, don't you?

 

[RebelBruiser]

I agree. Baseball games are won and lost primarily in the fall when people are working on new pitches, working on location, working on their swings, and working on their defense. When you get to the spring, there is still some coaching, but most of it is probably done in the fall.

For that matter, with our team as an example, most of the switches Bianco has made with our line up had been discussed on Nafoom before they even occured. And I'm sure the same has been done here with discussions on your rotation and batting order. It's simple tinkering during the season to figure out what line up and what rotation works best. And of course, knowing your players from the off-season contributes to that tinkering.

I know this is an odd example, but Sammy Sosa went from a 30 HR a year guy that struck out a ton to a 60 HR guy with fewer strikeouts in one off-season because a hitting coach changed his swing and taught him to go the other way when pitchers were pitching him away. I know he was on steroids too, but he was taking steroids well before he hit 60 HR. He was a 30 HR guy on steroids that became a 60 HR guy on steroids because of a hitting coach's off-season work. Point being, the major work is accomplished in the offseason (technique changes and recruiting) not during the season with line up changes and decisions on how to manage a game.

 

[DowntownDawg]

....go read 3 Nights in August to see the complexity that a manager deals with on a nightly basis, at least at the pro level. Setting lineups is not easy. Balancing whether or not to send a cold left hander to face a righty vs. a hot right hander to face a righty. Knowing that Batter A has hit .250 against Pitcher X and .330 against Pitcher Y, but he has struggled lately. Knowing whether or not to play a guy to the left, right, or straight up. And all this in addition to when to pinch hit, when to pull a guy, when to bunt, and what pitches to call. Those are the easy parts.

I would put baseball right up there with football in level of difficulty to coach, with basketball being a distant, distant 3rd.

 

[8dog]

1. You can not do any of that stuff and you still have a good chance to get a guy out. Plus, in college, histories and tendencies are a little more limited than in the pros. You play against so many young guys that have no "book". You keep putting defenses in the wrong position in football and you are screwed.

2. Who do you think is positioning these players?

 

[DowntownDawg]

...1) I acknowledge that in college, it's not such a stat driven game, and to some extent, you are throwing kids out there and letting them play. It is indeed a very different ballgame, college to pro. So if we're stricly talking about college, you have a point.

....2) I don't know what you mean by this question.

 

[8dog]

meant to indicate that the assistants usually chart and position. I'd just get someone on staff to take care of it. Hell, I imagine I can read a batter's history as well as anyone.

 

[oem]

I absolutely would have a problem with it.

And his shameless promotion of Raffo speaks to his massive ego. He has a boss that is to make that decision. For some reason, he feels as though he has "earned the right" to name his replacement. He hasn't. Nobody does. He should privately suggest that Raffo replace him, and be done with it.

You really have trouble comprehending simple things, don't you?

I'm not getting how he went over his employer's head. Has he signed Raffo to a contract without the AD's knowledge?

And talk about not comprehending simple things. He did what any good boss would do to get help a trusted associate along. It happens all the time in sports.

I would be willing to bet if he had done the same thing for Cohen, we wouldn't see nearly the reaction we are seeing right now. You're pissed at Polk. I understand that. You don't like his recommendation. I wonder if you had the same reaction when they named PM to be his successor the first time?

And for the record, I hope MSU doesn't hire either one of them.</p>