Baseball Coach or Life Coach

I’m about the bring up a subject that is sure to divide this forum. Or maybe I’m way off base and the entire board with turn on me. Either way, I think it needs to be discussed.

Does Coach Robe want to be a baseball coach or a life coach? DO NOT get me wrong. I appreciate that he runs a clean program and does produce great men. I am not asking to give me wins at the cost of reading about our players in newspaper articles not about a game. I just read his postgame comments and feel like he is just unaffected by losses. I want a coach that is mad that our offense was one of the worst in the country. I want a coach that is mad that we gave away a handful of games that would have made us a lock for postseason. I want a coach that is mad that we only scored 2 runs in 16 innings when our backs were against the wall. All too often it seems that his response to losses is overly philosophical feel good speeches.

Coach Robe is a good coach. He has done great things for this program. It has just become a frustration point for me the last couple of years and I’m curious of others thoughts.

Make no mistake. Robe is ____ed. He simply wanted to convey to his guys that there is a big picture. It is not an "either/or" situation. He's both. And, he's not required to act ____ed to satisfy the fan base.

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Originally Posted by CajunRage

I’m about the bring up a subject that is sure to divide this forum. Or maybe I’m way off base and the entire board with turn on me. Either way, I think it needs to be discussed.

Does Coach Robe want to be a baseball coach or a life coach? DO NOT get me wrong. I appreciate that he runs a clean program and does produce great men. I am not asking to give me wins at the cost of reading about our players in newspaper articles not about a game. I just read his postgame comments and feel like he is just unaffected by losses. I want a coach that is mad that our offense was one of the worst in the country. I want a coach that is mad that we gave away a handful of games that would have made us a lock for postseason. I want a coach that is mad that we only scored 2 runs in 16 innings when our backs were against the wall. All too often it seems that his response to losses is overly philosophical feel good speeches.

Coach Robe is a good coach. He has done great things for this program. It has just become a frustration point for me the last couple of years and I’m curious of others thoughts.

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I think you have a valid concern/discussion...but is the time & place to get pezzed off and embarrass your players after the final game of the season?...I really don’t think he will go into next season acting like everyone is smelling roses...

If you're questioning whether or not Robe is competitive, you've never been around the man, or his family.

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Originally Posted by talktomewillis

Make no mistake. Robe is ____ed. He simply wanted to convey to his guys that there is a big picture. It is not an "either/or" situation. He's both. And, he's not required to act ____ed to satisfy the fan base.

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Rob's philosophy with his athletes has always been the same and his won a lot of games. I hope he is ____ed because changes are needed. I don't have the answers, but he does soon.

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Originally Posted by CajunJeaux

I think you have a valid concern/discussion...but is the time & place to get pezzed off and embarrass your players after the final game of the season?...I really don’t think he will go into next season acting like everyone is smelling roses...

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I don’t expect him to berate his players. There’s nothing wrong with pointing out some of the glaring issues that we need to correct for next year while still conveying the “big picture” stuff. Too many postgame interviews this year seemed to be avoiding the subject.

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Originally Posted by CAJUNryan4

If you're questioning whether or not Robe is competitive, you've never been around the man, or his family.

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I’ve been around him and his family enough. I know he’s competitive.

Matt Deggs does the same thing, focusing on making boys to men. Is he not a good baseball coach? Is Deggs simply a life coach? I say no. You have two leaders of young men teaching men how to play ball and guiding them through life at the same time. One does not take away from the other.

Go to Napier's Twitter. Tons of life improving thought provoking quotes that having nothing to do with football on the surface. To have successful players you need complete people, at least in the opinion of many successful coaches.

In short, I don't think any of our players are missing out on baseball coaching or instruction with Robe's approach.

Let's see if he retains Talbot. If Talbot is back next year, I'll listen to the Robe criticism.

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Originally Posted by talktomewillis

Make no mistake. Robe is ____ed. He simply wanted to convey to his guys that there is a big picture. It is not an "either/or" situation. He's both. And, he's not required to act ____ed to satisfy the fan base.

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I don't give a darn how he acts.....fix it. We'll be in the stands regardless.

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Originally Posted by basinbear

I don't give a darn how he acts.....fix it.

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Kind of my feeling, but with the recent trend, I’d like some kind of indication that he is attempting to do that.

I had this same thought process. I’ve always hated when coaches say, “I’m here to make these boys men.” No sir. You’re there to win baseball games. It is not the coach’s job to teach life lessons. Now don’t get this twisted, I believe sports are the best way for a young kid/adult to learn some things about life. But I’ve never bought in to the whole thing of coaches being there to turn the players into men. That’s not your job. That is the job of the player’s parents. Your job is to win baseball games. And if you can’t do that, then you shouldn’t be a baseball coach.

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Originally Posted by MountainDew

I had this same thought process. I’ve always hated when coaches say, “I’m here to make these boys men.” No sir. You’re there to win baseball games. It is not the coach’s job to teach life lessons. Now don’t get this twisted, I believe sports are the best way for a young kid/adult to learn some things about life. But I’ve never bought in to the whole thing of coaches being there to turn the players into men. That’s not your job. That is the job of the player’s parents. Your job is to win baseball games. And if you can’t do that, then you shouldn’t be a baseball coach.

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But see, it is the philosophy to take a bunch of kids and turn them into men precisely because it will make them a better baseball team and win more games. And a college coaches job is not only to win games but to run a clean program, and develope young men to transition to the next phase of their lives. You are thinking of professional sports.

As a parent I would hope my son's coaches at every level help develope him into a man. A mature adult who is disciplined, selfless, responsible, and accountable. Because that will make him better at whatever he does, including baseball. It's my job to do that too, but I would hope every authority figure in his life would contribute to that process. I would rather my son play for that guy than the guy who doesn't care about him, only winning. Robe's approach is better for recruiting too if parents and their kids think the same as me. It all goes hand in hand with running a successful program.

With your preferred approach you have a bunch of immature individuals who don't end up caring much about winning ultimately. They are selfish and don't play as a team, which leads to losing. For a reference, go look at most minor league teams.

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Originally Posted by CajunRage

Kind of my feeling, but with the recent trend, I’d like some kind of indication that he is attempting to do that.

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I've know Robe a long time ....I expect he'll get it done....

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Originally Posted by Rougarou

But see, it is the philosophy to take a bunch of kids and turn them into men precisely because it will make them a better baseball team and win more games. And a college coaches job is not only to win games but to run a clean program, and develope young men to transition to the next phase of their lives. You are thinking of professional sports.

As a parent I would hope my son's coaches at every level help develope him into a man. A mature adult who is disciplined, selfless, responsible, and accountable. Because that will make him better at whatever he does, including baseball. It's my job to do that too, but I would hope every authority figure in his life would contribute to that process. I would rather my son play for that guy than the guy who doesn't care about him, only winning. Robe's approach is better for recruiting too if parents and their kids think the same as me. It all goes hand in hand with running a successful program.

With your preferred approach you have a bunch of immature individuals who don't end up caring much about winning ultimately. They are selfish and don't play as a team, which leads to losing. For a reference, go look at most minor league teams.

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Good reply to an absolutely moronic thread.

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Originally Posted by Cajun90

Good reply to an absolutely moronic thread.

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Glad you can keep it civil. Plenty of people have shared this opinion with me. If you don’t like it, don’t read.

This team has gotten progressively worse over the last few years coming off the 2014 season. That season should have catapulted us to that next level. We didn’t build a $16M stadium and put together one of the top non-conference schedules to miss post season.

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Originally Posted by Cajun90

Good reply to an absolutely moronic thread.

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Its a vaild concern people are fearful nothing changes going into next season and we end up with the same result as the last 2 season. Going on a 3 year postseason drought woukd kill all momentum we gained in stickball

How do I ignore this thread?

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Originally Posted by CajunPride

How do I ignore this thread?

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Another problem with the fanbase people turn a blind eye to certain coaching staffs.

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Originally Posted by CajunPride

How do I ignore this thread?

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Don’t click on it.

But back to the OP, he’s not wrong in his opinion.

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Originally Posted by CajunRage

This team has gotten progressively worse over the last few years coming off the 2014 season. That season should have catapulted us to that next level. We didn't build a $16M stadium and put together one of the top non-conference schedules to miss post season.

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This is fair as a criticism and concern. The "life coach" thing you based the thread on is a red herring in my opinion.

Again, Matt Deggs wrote a book about redemption in life, went on a book tour and does various other paid speaking engagements. His whole thing is developing boy into men. I would bet all of the posters who don't want Robe to help his players develope as young men would salivate at the thought of Deggs returning to this program.

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Originally Posted by cajun_lannister

Its a vaild concern people are fearful nothing changes going into next season and we end up with the same result as the last 2 season. Going on a 3 year postseason drought woukd kill all momentum we gained in stickball

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We were told last year that the lack of at bats was why we struggled offensively. Not only did we not get better, we got worse. And now we aren’t getting any indication that a change is coming. It’s an extremely valid concern. I hope Robe is shuffling to the mound 30 years from now, but I’m not going to turn a blind eye to some pretty big issues with the trend line we are on.

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Originally Posted by Rougarou

This is fair as a criticism and concern. The "life coach" thing you based the thread on is a red herring in my opinion.

Again, Matt Deggs wrote a book about redemption in life, went on a book tour and does various other paid speaking engagements. His whole thing is developing boy into men. I would bet all of the posters who don't want Robe to help his players develope as young men would salivate at the thought of Deggs returning to this program.

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Please show me which poster said they don’t want Robe to develop young men.

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Originally Posted by Cajun90

Good reply to an absolutely moronic thread.

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Moronic thread? Or what you think was a moronic post by MountainDew? The OP wrote a very reasonable post. It's produced very reasonable responses. I don't "know" Tony. But I don't question his competitiveness versus commitment to being a life mentor. I think it jives well for him and us. It's Tony's choice of how he talks to the public. It's mellow yellow to say the least. And when we're not playing good ball, that grinds on the passionate fan.

It's funny how baseball coaches can get theatrically mad at umps (that's baseball)... displaying behavior that won't cut it in any other walk of life their athletes will experience... but won't get mad at their program, their staff, or themselves in public. It is a little hypocritical.

Tony may not give a flying squat about fans... or he could be misguided into believing the biggest and best fans are all cooperative and quiet... but he should be more expressive sometimes about how sucking wind in baseball sucks wind. I'm a calculated person with 1000 pounds of passion. Those are competing forces. I severely appreciate those that have that makeup. I'm not very appreciative of gifted people that are heavily slanted only one way. All passion sucks. But pure calculation does too.

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Originally Posted by Just1More

Moronic thread? Or what you think was a moronic post by MountainDew? The OP wrote a very reasonable post. It's produced very reasonable responses. I don't "know" Tony. But I don't question his competitiveness versus commitment to being a life mentor. I think it jives well for him and us. It's Tony's choice of how he talks to the public. It's mellow yellow to say the least. And when we're not playing good ball, that grinds on the passionate fan.

It's funny how baseball coaches can get theatrically mad at umps (that's baseball)... displaying behavior that won't cut it in any other walk of life their athletes will experience... but won't get mad at their program, their staff, or themselves in public. It is a little hypocritical.

Tony may not give a flying squat about fans... or he could be misguided into believing the biggest and best fans are all cooperative and quiet... but he should be more expressive sometimes about how sucking wind in baseball sucks wind. I'm a calculated person with 1000 pounds of passion. Those are competing forces. I severely appreciate those that have that makeup. I'm not very appreciative of gifted people that are heavily slanted only one way. All passion sucks. But pure calculation does too.

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Nice post. We all need to calculate our responses in the real world.
RP is for uncalculated responses. It is what makes it interesting!