Baseball Coach or Life Coach

[Rougarou]

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.

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.

[basinbear]

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

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

[Cajun90]

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.

Good reply to an absolutely moronic thread.

[CajunRage]

Good reply to an absolutely moronic thread.

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.

[cajun_lannister]

Good reply to an absolutely moronic thread.

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

[CajunPride]

How do I ignore this thread?

[cajun_lannister]

How do I ignore this thread?

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

[GeauxLouisiana]

How do I ignore this thread?

Don’t click on it.

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

[Rougarou]

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.

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.

[CajunRage]

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

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.

[CajunRage]

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.

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

[Just1More]

Good reply to an absolutely moronic thread.

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.