(09-30-2015 11:31 PM)Pellet Wrote: (09-29-2015 11:15 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote: And who the heck are you to judge the quality of our assistant coaches?
Oddly enough, my views are in line with the rest of the baseball community, and your views are, not surprisingly, based in la la land.
Competent assistant coaches in major programs are often viewed as potential targets for head coaching positions, or at the very least assistant coaching positions at programs with deeper pockets. Since Pierce left, the over/under on coaching looks that Rice assistant coaches have gotten is +/-0.5. You can safely take the under.
Has recruiting (one of the major responsibilities of the assistant coaches, especiallly given the advance age of the head coach) improved, or even been maintained under the current coaches watch? Not according anyone who knows anything*. Even in the recruiting classes that are supposedly good, the assistant coaches fail to get the key component on campus
* standard Walt Greenberg expert-of-everything disclaimer applies here
Has player development improved or even been maintained? MLB scouts don't seem to think so, given the lack of high-round draft picks. Even those players who are drafted lower than expected bail earlier than normal becuase the realize the player-development components of our coaching staff (outside of Wayne) are substandard. Rice's "Ace" next year is a draft-eligible lefty that ZERO major league clubs was worth a shot; that should tell you something about player development.
It would be one thing to live off your bosses' name and expertise and collct a paycheck if you were uphold the Rice way in the community. Reports of Hallmark's behavior indicate that in many circumstances, he has behaved as an unprofessional douche. Sadly, it looks like, in our laziness and parsimony, are going to hand the reins of the program over to him once Wayne retires. He will run it into the ground within 3 years.
1. Assistant coaches do not become "hot" commodities for head coaching jobs overnight; rather, as with Pierce, they usually an assistant for an extended period of time. Hallmark is the only current Rice assistant who has been here for more than 3 years, and his tenure is less than 10 years.
2. Recruiting has not hit a lull into this year's incoming class, and appears to continue into next year's...and as has been stated by others, the reason has less to do with recruiting prowess of our Assistants and more to do with the scholarship situation, and Rice's decision not to award hardship scholarships at the University level. Hallmark was instrumental in bringing in last year's very highly regarded incoming class (even with stud Stone Garrett electing to go pro).
3. Our 'ace" next year is projected to be Jon Duplantier, who most pundits and scouts currently project to be a first two round draft pick. BTW, there are plenty of elite college baseball pitchers who do not project highly by the scouting community because they do not throw with high velocity. Similarly, there are always, in every draft, several mediocre at best college pitchers who are drafted in the first 2 - 3 rounds because they have good "stuff".
4. To say there has been little to no player development under the current regime of coaches is ridiculous. What about Stainback, Kopycinski, Ewing, Hoelscher, Williamson, Lemond, Ditman (who was came here as a walk on catcher), Orewiler, Connor Teykl, Kirby Taylor, and the list goes on and on.
5. You should be ashamed of yourself to be casting aspersions and innuendos on Hallmark "behavior" in a public forum. I have pretty good inside info on the baseball program and I have never heard anything negative about Patrick's behavior.