re: Mr. Bjork---8-5 Dook. You know what to do.

I think it's time we evaluate our program. We've had, I believe, 3 coaches over the last 60 years. And all three are very similar in results. Good teams without much to show for it.

So are we a program with a ceiling right here and have had 3 top 15-20 coaches in a row? Or are we a program with a very high floor that have had 3 decent coaches in a row that the floor hides their mediocrity. I don't know that it's a question that can be answered definitely. But I do lean more to the latter.

RC has been very consistent. He obviously does some things well. I'm not saying he's a bad coach and I suspect you may be right that he would get a job tomorrow. But the question remains - ceiling or floor?

We start by establishing expectations and standards.

If the standard is "better than t.u." we have accomplished that 6 of the last 8 seasons.

If the standard is "championship contender" we have accomplished that twice under C_iLd_Ess: 2011 and 2016 (2017 was a fluke brought on by an epic choke by North Carolina)

He is entering the final year of his contract.

Do we give him a stupid extension? Fire him? Neither and leave it in doubt as to whether recruits should play for him?

We're entering "no man's land" right now.

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Do we give him a stupid extension? Fire him?

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You know where I stand.

Get DEed by DOOK, a basketball school from the ACC in shut-out/near shut-out fashion both times?

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The few points I wanted to make in this rambling is that 1) baseball is kind of random.

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Chandler and MJ won at almost the exact same clip as Rob.

We're heading into year 61 of if we keep doing it we'll get lucky in the postseason. In the first 60 years of this, we have 5 CWS appearances (and 1 CWS win) to show for it.

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2) The coach makes the program, not the other way around.

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They can at shite programs.

Is Pierce going to be a bad hire? Maybe. But in 3 years he's already had a CWS appearance. As has already been pointed out State has reached the Supers 4 years in a row now with 4 different coaches. These are schools with high floors.

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3) even the perfect coach and a "sure thing" (Horton) might not work out.

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Wholeheartedly agree with this. We may make a bad hire. I'm not scared of that though I recognize it's possible. We may have to suffer.

I may be wrong in that RC is hard to replace. But after sleeping on this, I'm pretty sure I'd pull the trigger. I don't really think the downside is that bad because I've woken up on the high floor side of the bed.

We are in the best Baseball conference in the NCAA, and it's not even close.

We have a state-of-the-art baseball facility.

We are in a hot bed of recruiting.

BUT

We still have 1 CWS win in program history.



When all the ingredients and equipment have been replaced and re-tested, with a brand new kitchen, and we still can't get a good recipe, it MUST be time to find another chef.

Slow down. The format changed and made it much easier to make the postseason. Look at the winning%. They’re all fairly similar.

I could see that for a few years, but he won his title in his 7th year and made the CWS as late as his 10th. Vanderhook has a few postseason runs, but overall not where near what they were before.

Pat Casey. Surely he’s bored of retirement by now.

I don't think it's necessary to have a list as fans. And honestly if I were making the call I'd do what any AD would do - I'd have my Assoc AD (and/or a consulting firm) put together a dosser on about 30 potential hires and then study them in detail.

But for arguments sake, Chandler, MJ, and RC had a combined 0 years of head coach experience before coming to A&M. This is actually one reason the floor argument is comfortable to me. So I don't think we need a Jimbo/Buzz hire but obviously it's harder and as fans we get scared that we may frick up the hire.

Anyway, let's look at current successful coaches from state schools (privates play by a different set of rules and so I'm excluding). These are the kinds of coaches we want to hire, not a list of targets as I don't think we could pull any of them. I picked guys that have had at least a few years so clearly not flash in pan but not guys who have been somewhere forever so you can't tell the schools level without then (shout out to Mike Martin).

Tadlock (Tech) - been to 3 CWS in 6 years (and looks headed to a 4th). No prior D1 HC experience. Came to Tech as an assistant and was promoted but had a very successful JUCO stint previously (going to 5 JUCO CWS in 9 seasons)

Mainieri (LSU) - probably the kind of hire Farmer is thinking. Mainieri was at ND for 12 seasons and went to a regional his last 8 years there (including 1 CWS). Tough to do at ND (since Mainieri left they've made the postseason once). He has 5 CWS appearances with LSU in 11 years. CWS Champion

O'Sullivan (UF) - 7 CWS in 11 years, including a title. frick me. Was an assistant (Clemson) previously.

Mike Fox (UNC) - no prior HC experence

Monty Lee (Clemson) too early whether this is a good hire. But 4 years replacing a very good coach and 3 of those they've hosted a regional. Previously Charleston HC.

Van Horn (Arky) - another that fits Farmer's profile. 5 CWS at Arky after 2 at Nebraska.

These are comparable programs IMO. Certainly they've had more success than us but that's part of the point. Outside of LSU, I don't think any of those programs have inherent advantages on us (and I'd argue the opposite for a few). And most hired an assistant.

I'd prefer to hire a Mainieri or Van Horn. But if one isn't available, that doesn't preclude a good hire at all.