The Cocks fired their coach. Mac a candidate?

[CardX]

Appears so. Could be time for a fresh start for everyone.
https://southcarolina.rivals.com/news/south-carolina-baseball-head-coaching-search-hot-board

 

[earsky]

Very possibly so. Although this is a yearly ritual with Mac,something seems different this time around.

 

[Bardman]

I’d think South Carolina would be a threat.

 

[TheRealVille]

I have to admit, I wouldn't mind. I'm sure this program can attract a top level coach, thanks to what coach Mac built here.

 

[earsky]

I'm wondering what could be the tipping point if he were to go.

Lack of NIL money or the practice facility debacle. You gotta wonder how much it took LSU to lure White away from NC St.

Heird can't find it for football and basketball. You know it would take a private citizen to pony up that kind of dough.

 

[Thecycle27]

If they really want him they will get him this go around. Let’s be honest South Carolina has advantages over Louisville. Mainly the freaking weather. Playing and coaching baseball in the cold is no fun.

 

[Thecycle27]

I'm wondering what could be the tipping point if he were to go.

Lack of NIL money or the practice facility debacle. You gotta wonder how much it took LSU to lure White away from NC St.

Heird can't find it for football and basketball. You know it would take a private citizen to pony up that kind of dough.

I don’t think the price tags for baseball is even close to football or basketball. However I doubt Louisville has much of a NIL budget for baseball. The roster is pretty big.

 

[rh62531]

I love CDM, but....he never asked the fans for help. He never called big pocket donors. Heck, our new BB coach called and asked on Day 1.

 

[earsky]

We're gonna know in the next few days.
Mac,Lemonis or the guy from EC

 

[nccardfan]

We're gonna know in the next few days.
Mac,Lemonis or the guy from EC

Thats not the whole list:

Monte Lee - current asst coach who served previously as Clemson coach
Josh Elander - Tennessee asst coach
Chris Pollard - Duke coach who barely missed going to Omaha
Kevin O Sullivan - was USC's first choice when they hired Kingston
Chris Lemonis - has one NC under his belt
Cliff Godwin - ECU coach (although I thought he might retire), barely missed going to Regionals
Tom Walter - Wake Forest coach (what could he do with more resources)
Landon Powell - former Gamecock who coached North Greenville to NCAA Division II championship

 

[Thecycle27]

It has surprised me how difficult it has been for him or the AD to raise funds outside of Patterson. Baseball is weird it is a very balanced sport. You don’t need a 2M payrolll to win games. Look at the remaining 16 teams. It is a mix of a bunch of different budgets all a the way down to Evansville. While they were eliminated this year Coastal Carolina has won a title. Oregon State can’t have a big budget.

We may never know but something shifted with the recruiting especially pitchers. Williams has too many former players in MLB to not land legit arms. NIL is only 2 years old and the issues started before that recruiting wise.

 

[Bardman]

I really do not want to see CDM leave. However, pitching has been at the D+ to C- level since 2020. That falls to your pitching coach. Tough decisions are just that - tough. But when you make the money CDM makes you are required to make tough decisions. If it is something else then CDM needs to talk about it. They, just like CPK, need to create buzz around the program. They need to find ways to get people into the stadium. More buzz, more butts in more seats, more money generated for facilities and NIL.

 

[nccardfan]

It has surprised me how difficult it has been for him or the AD to raise funds outside of Patterson. Baseball is weird it is a very balanced sport. You don’t need a 2M payrolll to win games. Look at the remaining 16 teams. It is a mix of a bunch of different budgets all a the way down to Evansville. While they were eliminated this year Coastal Carolina has won a title. Oregon State can’t have a big budget.

We may never know but something shifted with the recruiting especially pitchers. Williams has too many former players in MLB to not land legit arms. NIL is only 2 years old and the issues started before that recruiting wise.

You bring up a good point about Oregon State that maybe Dan should pay attention to. They have won 3 NC since 2006. They have been to the CWS 7 times. They have made at least the Regionals the last 4 years (under a new coach). The capacity of their home field is 3,600 and yet they continue to win. Now maybe their fans are more committed to baseball because they have nothing else to do??? Is that the reason?

 

[Thecycle27]

It is tough to get people to attend games in March. Weather is just awful for March and good part of April. There is no way around it unless you get creative and find a way to heat the seats.

The move to the ACC was a good one but if the coaches recruit poorly or have bad player evaluations a program can become irrelevant in hurry. That is what has happened. I keep saying it but the drop off in recruitment/development of pitchers has tanked. There is no way to survive a league like the ACC with the pitchers since Covid. It is weird they recruited/developed much better pitchers in the Big East than they did the last 4 years.

 

[earsky]

It is tough to get people to attend games in March. Weather is just awful for March and good part of April. There is no way around it unless you get creative and find a way to heat the seats.

With the exception of that first weekend of games, you can catch probably every home game on ACC X. That can't help.

Of course,when you couple that with the weather, it's tough getting folks out there,even though we all know the at-the-park experience is second to none.

 

[nccardfan]

With the exception of that first weekend of games, you can catch probably every home game on ACC X. That can't help.

Of course,when you couple that with the weather, it's tough getting folks out there,even though we all know the at-the-park experience is second to none.

I would be curious to know how the attendance was before we started charging admission to ACC games and the UK game.

 

[HiStepper]

I would be curious to know how the attendance was before we started charging admission to ACC games and the UK game.

I don't recall the year but I found a website on ACC baseball attendance once that showed Louisville was something like 6th or 7th in the ACC in attendance and the attendance number was less than 2000 a game. FSU may have been the top team with an attendance of something like 14,000.

 

[Bardman]

On average attendance was much better. Let’s face it - free attendance removes ANY monetary barrier to attending. It isn’t expensive as it is, but, people are fickle.

 

[HiStepper]

Look no further than the attendance at the Louisville Bats games to gauge the city's love for baseball in general.

 

[earsky]

In the spirit of “build it and they will come’’ I could substitute WIN IT for build it and we’ll likely see a real boost in attendance as well as following.
We need a championship!

 

[Bardman]

Heck, we just need a return to the tournament. Keep in mind we were a game away from the CWS two seasons ago. I tend to forget that too. Although that team wasn’t great they were playing well at the right time.

 

[earsky]

And I'm talking about getting butts out and to the field. It's always been this way. Nobody coming in droves unless it's regional play. The brand could use a real boost only brought about with a championship. Hell,it could happen next year 🤷

 

[TheRealVille]

It's my opinion that until the program wins the World Series, attendance is not going to be what it needs to be. The program was on the cusp of this during that stretch in the mid 2000's, but regardless of how good the team was, they flamed out in the World Series.

Fans started to feel like the program was just good enough to be highly ranked, but didn't have what it takes to win the World Series. I think the 2020 team was poised to prove that wrong until Covid derailed the season.

Baseball in February and March is another problem for attendance. It's just too damn cold to sit outside on bleachers for 3 + hour baseball games. If the program was coming off winning the World Series, more fans would likely show up when it's 40 degrees.

 

[CardX]

On average attendance was much better. Let’s face it - free attendance removes ANY monetary barrier to attending. It isn’t expensive as it is, but, people are fickle.

When you take away “free,” people notice.

 

[earsky]

I would be curious to see what attendance has done. Also,we can’t leave out some of the promotions that were axed.

 

[nccardfan]

It's my opinion that until the program wins the World Series, attendance is not going to be what it needs to be. The program was on the cusp of this during that stretch in the mid 2000's, but regardless of how good the team was, they flamed out in the World Series.

Fans started to feel like the program was just good enough to be highly ranked, but didn't have what it takes to win the World Series. I think the 2020 team was poised to prove that wrong until Covid derailed the season.

Baseball in February and March is another problem for attendance. It's just too damn cold to sit outside on bleachers for 3 + hour baseball games. If the program was coming off winning the World Series, more fans would likely show up when it's 40 degrees.

That's how it is for every baseball program except in Florida, Arizona and California. Games in February and March in North Carolina aren't usually ideal.

 

[CardX]

Sounds like the Cocks hired LSU's former coach, Paul Mainieri. Or, are about to. I wouldn't say I was ready for Mac to move on. He's given us so much. It just kind of feels like his best years are behind him.

If Williams sticks around, I expect nothing more than what we've seen the last two seasons. Correct me if I'm wrong, but insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.

 

[Thecycle27]

I tend to agree with the pitching but we will have to see how it goes. They do have some legit young arms.

 

[TheRealVille]

I know, I know most programs call the pitches but it's still bullshit to me. I don't remember McKay or Detmers not choosing their own pitches.

It's ridiculous. It's like the pitchers are on training wheels. A pitcher has to decide himself what pitches he's confident with to certain hitters, not the frigging pitching coach. What happens when a pitcher ignores the called pitches?

I just don't get how a starting pitcher can gain any confidence when he wants to throw a slider but he's being told by a coach in the dugout to throw a fastball.

Louisville needs talented arms but they also need a coach who's on the same page if they're going to insist on calling pitches.

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood]

SC filled their position is that right?

 

[earsky]

SC filled their position is that right?

Yes

 

[Ipartiedwithhopgood]

Yes

Thx Ears