Baseball Coach or Life Coach

[Just1More]

I find this confusing and contradictory. You start off in your first paragraph saying that none of us has anything but an outside view and some rumors to go off of but then you proceed to tell me that insubordination was involved. Which is something Tony wouldn’t tolerate

We’ve heard stories of insubordination this season, of player staring down Talbot, but none of them involved Todd Lott.

For that matter, in this thread alone we’ve got a grad assistant teaching contrary to the hitting coach’s Philosophy.

If there is a conflict between an assistant coach and the players, the impact on the program could very well be a long-term

It's not a contradiction. I'm stating what I heard is hear say. Tony not tolerating insubordination is a fact. What happened with Todd is hear say. I've never been to a team practice, don't know any players or their families personally. What I was told seemed to line up with Todd not getting in the lineup, and it seemed to explain his earlier at-bats... then his successes at the end of the regular season. It's a hear say story. That's what I was explaining. We pretty much only have these rumors and the play we witnessed watching the games.

[Just1More]

There's a difference between insubordination and players knowing themselves. We talk about how tony trusts his pitchers to tell him how they feel. The best athletes know everything about their bodies and their ability to play the game. If Lott said, f you I'm not going to the cage, that's one thing. If he refused to do some of the things talbot wanted to with his swing, I'm not necessarily against that.

There are players that need tweaking of their fundamentals, there are players that only need reps against D1 pitching, there are players you leave alone because it's more cerebral than physical, there are players that need you to challenge them, there are team dynamics that must be taught and managed. The gift of a coach is to know what applies when, where and to whom. A batting "system" is only a batting system.

[Ray Finkle]

So let's say that, for whatever reason, Robe and Maggard decide to let JT stay with the program at least another year. With conference championships seeming like a distant memory of the past, will some of the fan base start to withhold their interests in the program? Are we going to have a stadium with 2-3k fans?

[cajun_lannister]

So let's say that, for whatever reason, Robe and Maggard decide to let JT stay with the program at least another year. With conference championships seeming like a distant memory of the past, will some of the fan base start to withhold their interests in the program? Are we going to have a stadium with 2-3k fans?

If are ranked +200 in the offense again numbers might dip under 2K. We will see a good amount of season tickets dropped if Talbot stays on because people know your $$$ speaks louder than your voice

[Cajun Monkee]

It's not a contradiction. I'm stating what I heard is hear say. Tony not tolerating insubordination is a fact. What happened with Todd is hear say. I've never been to a team practice, don't know any players or their families personally. What I was told seemed to line up with Todd not getting in the lineup, and it seemed to explain his earlier at-bats... then his successes at the end of the regular season. It's a hear say story. That's what I was explaining. We pretty much only have these rumors and the play we witnessed watching the games.

So to the best of your knowledge, Todd wasn’t insubordinate

Because if he was insubordinate by your definition, and Rougerou is correct in his assessment that the best players have done the same thing then Tony has a different set of rules for different players.

[CajunVic]

So let's say that, for whatever reason, Robe and Maggard decide to let JT stay with the program at least another year. With conference championships seeming like a distant memory of the past, will some of the fan base start to withhold their interests in the program? Are we going to have a stadium with 2-3k fans?

I'm pretty sure we are barely getting that in actual butts in the seats right now.

[sportsfanatic21]

So let's say that, for whatever reason, Robe and Maggard decide to let JT stay with the program at least another year. With conference championships seeming like a distant memory of the past, will some of the fan base start to withhold their interests in the program? Are we going to have a stadium with 2-3k fans?

Talbot will not be back.

[Rougarou]

There are players that need tweaking of their fundamentals, there are players that only need reps against D1 pitching, there are players you leave alone because it's more cerebral than physical, there are players that need you to challenge them, there are team dynamics that must be taught and managed. The gift of a coach is to know what applies when, where and to whom. A batting "system" is only a batting system.

Good post

[CrazyCajun]

So to the best of your knowledge, Todd wasn’t insubordinate

Because if he was insubordinate by your definition, and Rougerou is correct in his assessment that the best players have done the same thing then Tony has a different set of rules for different players.

Nice subtle race card you are playing there...Todd didn’t even try to catch a fly ball at Texas..he froze. That’s why he went sit next to Tony initially. Then every time he got a chance to hit he struck out miserably. Why did Todd end the season in the lineup? Because he started hitting the ball.

[Cajun90]

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.

To quote the original post..... "Does Coach Robe want to be a baseball coach or a life coach?"

As though these are mutually exclusive events. Rougaru hit the nail on the head with his response and I don't think I could have stated it better. I think every coache's responsibility (unless the players are getting paid) is to help mold and develop boys/girls to become great men/women.

As usual the thread has drifted, but yes I think the question posed by the op was moronic (def. very foolish). Being a "life coach" is exactly what makes him a great baseball coach.