(06-15-2018 03:53 PM)Owl1998 Wrote:  Bragga will need someone with Houston ties. Maybe keeping Pope makes a lot of sense. John has as many Houston ties as anyone in the state.

I would have preferred Riser among the contingent of young, experienced, small conference D-1 head coaches, but I can certainly live with Bragga. And I agree he'll need assistants with Texas ties, and a good pitching coach (as his teams over the past several years have been noted for their hitting). Their pitching was even worse than ours, against a weaker schedule. Very little basestealing or bunting.

(06-15-2018 04:08 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(06-15-2018 03:53 PM)Owl1998 Wrote:  Bragga will need someone with Houston ties. Maybe keeping Pope makes a lot of sense. John has as many Houston ties as anyone in the state.

I would have preferred Riser among the contingent of young, experienced, small conference D-1 head coaches, but I can certainly live with Bragga. And I agree he'll need assistants with Texas ties, and a good pitching coach (as his teams over the past several years have been noted for their hitting and baserunning).

Kendall just tweeted he’s heard lance was potentially willing to work for whoever we hired. Even if he’s just a volunteer I think it’d be good to have him around and keep all of the alums who supported him involved. It’s nice to have lots of big league stars/ alums who want to be around the program. All the recruits we want dream of making the mlb (even if we think education is #1).

(06-15-2018 04:06 PM)cr11owl Wrote:  

(06-15-2018 04:03 PM)Owl1998 Wrote:  

(06-15-2018 04:02 PM)westsidewolf1989 Wrote:  

(06-15-2018 04:00 PM)Owl1998 Wrote:  

(06-15-2018 03:56 PM)westsidewolf1989 Wrote:  I can’t say I’m as high on Pope as others on this board. Our recruiting has dipped since Pierce and Taylor left and I can’t see how Pope has changed that in the two years he’s been here.

I respectfully disagree. Pope was just given the recruiting reins last summer when Van Hook left for OU. In the immediate 6 weeks, he secured commits from 6 different kids who had multiple offers. Pope really took the bull by the horns and his recruits haven’t stepped foot on campus yet. Completely unfair to say he’s had anything at all to do with the recruits we’ve seen on campus.

Agreed, but how many of our recruits got drafted this year...Cruz by the Astros?

The recruits he secured are 2019 kids. Not eligible for the draft until next year. Every single 2018 kid (draft eligible) were Van Hook recruits.

It’s crazy how far our recruits commit.... I’ll be interested to hear what your contacts in the HS ranks say about the Bragga hire. His kids seemed to love him at Tenn Tech and they tore the cover off the ball.

Hoping to see some more balls fly out of Reckling soon.

It’s an unknown for the kids I’m in regular contact with simply because Bragga hasn’t recruited Texas/Louisiana (all of my area). They don’t know him. However, one of my peers does know him and even prior to his Rice interest, he raved about him. Paraphrasing but...he said he’s the real deal who will someday be a household name amongst college baseball people. That’s a good sign because the source I’m referencing is as trustworthy as they get.

(06-15-2018 04:13 PM)cr11owl Wrote:  

(06-15-2018 04:08 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(06-15-2018 03:53 PM)Owl1998 Wrote:  Bragga will need someone with Houston ties. Maybe keeping Pope makes a lot of sense. John has as many Houston ties as anyone in the state.

I would have preferred Riser among the contingent of young, experienced, small conference D-1 head coaches, but I can certainly live with Bragga. And I agree he'll need assistants with Texas ties, and a good pitching coach (as his teams over the past several years have been noted for their hitting and baserunning).

Kendall just tweeted he’s heard lance was potentially willing to work for whoever we hired. Even if he’s just a volunteer I think it’d be good to have him around and keep all of the alums who supported him involved. It’s nice to have lots of big league stars/ alums who want to be around the program. All the recruits we want dream of making the mlb (even if we think education is #1).

As I've said before, I'd love to have Lance on board as an assistant. BTW, Lance told me when we spoke a month ago that if he did come on as an assistant it would probably be as a volunteer, which is even better for us. We need an elite pitching coach, however. Tenn Tech pitching was worse than ours and against a weaker schedule. I like Pope personally, and think he's done a fantastic job in his year as recruiting head, but I'm far less encouraged with the impact he's had on the pitching staff.

Swing and miss. Darn shame that Lance did not get his opportunity.

It's official:
http://www.riceowls.com/sports/m-basebl/..._102404171

(06-15-2018 11:20 AM)Owlmaha Wrote:  

(06-15-2018 06:37 AM)Volente Beach Owl Wrote:  

(06-14-2018 10:05 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  Again, the only offer he received was from Leebron to have a role in the upcoming fundraising campaign. Nada from Joe.

More was offered than that.

VBO- you need to remain silent about things you have no information about. In this thread, as it relates to Wayne you have been negative, insulting and flat out wrong.
Where do you get this crap from? I've tried to stay out of your overt and not so subtle campaign for Lance because I don't give a crap but you have zero facts about what Wayne was offered or what he was thinking. As to the offer, it was basically what Walt has reported although no terms were ever discussed because Wayne had no desire to report to Leebron or be a tool of the university. Totally his choice by the way and not an unreasonable position. Your insights into what Coach was thinking are another source of BS. At the end of the 2017 season, Wayne myself and a couple of other core supporters had a discussion about what he needed to transition to a new coach. The discussion, that I was a part of, centered on how best to secure his legacy. His concern was for his kids and his assistants- not coaching until he died! Lance never even came up. He, and the others at the time, thought that Paul showed great potential and given another year with greater responsibilities and tutoring could be the best thing for Rice. Wayne signed off on this and I and another person who I will not name without permission, personally delivered this message and plan to Leebron in the summer. He thought it sounded ok and he followed up with a meeting with Coach. The AD was aware, the BOT was aware and at the end of the day this very reasonable plan that could have resulted in world peace was rejected by JK/Tudor in midseason. There you have it. It was only at this point that Wayne decided to concentrate only on his players and refused to negotiate with or take part in any Rice related hoopla.
The most disturbing thing about all of this is that the most knowledgeable resource Rice had on college athletics and baseball, Wayne, was never consulted. He was insulted, micro-managed and alienated, but never once consulted.

My question about this is timing. Wayne thought Paul had great potential as of the end of the 2017 season (presumably June), but Paul was still playing MLB until released in August 2017? Had Paul worked with Rice some during his off-seasons from MLB? Or had Paul known that the end was near for his MLB career and already had negotiations with Wayne? Otherwise, what was Wayne's evaluation of his potential based on? Just trying to understand the sequencing here.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not at all opposed to the idea you suggested. I think Paul would have been a worthy successor (Rice grad, played on NC team, parts of nine years in MLB, Houston area), somewhat similar to Berkman but with Wayne's blessing. I think a transition year that was a combination sundown cruise for Wayne and break-in year for Paul would have been a good way to go. Then move Wayne to some kind of advisory and fund-raising position. And having the successor in place would help overcome the negative recruiting over Wayne's age. Worst case, we would have avoided all the rancor among our supporters. I'm just trying to make the time frames work for that, and not sure how they would fit.

If we are saying 2018 would be Paul's audition, 2019 would be the transition year, and 2020 we hand Paul the keys, that makes sense. Only issue I see is what is Plan B if Paul flunks the audition? And how confident are we that he wouldn't? Based on what? As it turned out, 2018 was definitely a downer, first time to miss NCAA tournament in 20+ years. I have to believe that without all the infighting that would have been better. But what if it hadn't been? Would that constitute Paul flunking his audition? And if so, then what?

Other questions I would have are what happens to Pope, and who would come in as hitting instructor?

Just trying to figure out how this could have been implemented.

(06-15-2018 11:22 AM)illiniowl Wrote:  Has Deggs interviewed or even applied? I'd rate him as the best of the "conventional wisdom" field but is there even mutual interest?

If Berkman's religious views were a problem, Deggs would be a complete non-starter. Otherwise he's a great coach and his kids love playing for him.

(06-15-2018 04:17 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(06-15-2018 04:13 PM)cr11owl Wrote:  

(06-15-2018 04:08 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(06-15-2018 03:53 PM)Owl1998 Wrote:  Bragga will need someone with Houston ties. Maybe keeping Pope makes a lot of sense. John has as many Houston ties as anyone in the state.

I would have preferred Riser among the contingent of young, experienced, small conference D-1 head coaches, but I can certainly live with Bragga. And I agree he'll need assistants with Texas ties, and a good pitching coach (as his teams over the past several years have been noted for their hitting and baserunning).

Kendall just tweeted he’s heard lance was potentially willing to work for whoever we hired. Even if he’s just a volunteer I think it’d be good to have him around and keep all of the alums who supported him involved. It’s nice to have lots of big league stars/ alums who want to be around the program. All the recruits we want dream of making the mlb (even if we think education is #1).

As I've said before, I'd love to have Lance on board as an assistant. BTW, Lance told me when we spoke a month ago that if he did come on as an assistant it would probably be as a volunteer, which is even better for us. We need an elite pitching coach, however. Tenn Tech pitching was worse than ours and against a weaker schedule. I like Pope personally, and think he's done a fantastic job in his year as recruiting head, but I'm far less encouraged with the impact he's had on the pitching staff.

Why throw shade on Pope? You should know that any pitching coach for Wayne is his conduit to the pitching staff. Pope is/was a good soldier and performed the task he was asked to do.

(06-15-2018 04:57 PM)Ghost of 13thOwl Wrote:  

(06-15-2018 04:17 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(06-15-2018 04:13 PM)cr11owl Wrote:  [quote='waltgreenberg' pid='15346178' dateline='1529096918']
[quote='Owl1998' pid='15346137' dateline='1529096030']
Bragga will need someone with Houston ties. Maybe keeping Pope makes a lot of sense. John has as many Houston ties as anyone in the state.

As I've said before, I'd love to have Lance on board as an assistant. BTW, Lance told me when we spoke a month ago that if he did come on as an assistant it would probably be as a volunteer, which is even better for us. We need an elite pitching coach, however. Tenn Tech pitching was worse than ours and against a weaker schedule. I like Pope personally, and think he's done a fantastic job in his year as recruiting head, but I'm far less encouraged with the impact he's had on the pitching staff.

Why throw shade on Pope? You should know that any pitching coach for Wayne is his conduit to the pitching staff. Pope is/was a good soldier and performed the task he was asked to do.

+1

(06-15-2018 04:57 PM)Ghost of 13thOwl Wrote:  

(06-15-2018 04:17 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(06-15-2018 04:13 PM)cr11owl Wrote:  

(06-15-2018 04:08 PM)waltgreenberg Wrote:  

(06-15-2018 03:53 PM)Owl1998 Wrote:  Bragga will need someone with Houston ties. Maybe keeping Pope makes a lot of sense. John has as many Houston ties as anyone in the state.

I would have preferred Riser among the contingent of young, experienced, small conference D-1 head coaches, but I can certainly live with Bragga. And I agree he'll need assistants with Texas ties, and a good pitching coach (as his teams over the past several years have been noted for their hitting and baserunning).

Kendall just tweeted he’s heard lance was potentially willing to work for whoever we hired. Even if he’s just a volunteer I think it’d be good to have him around and keep all of the alums who supported him involved. It’s nice to have lots of big league stars/ alums who want to be around the program. All the recruits we want dream of making the mlb (even if we think education is #1).

As I've said before, I'd love to have Lance on board as an assistant. BTW, Lance told me when we spoke a month ago that if he did come on as an assistant it would probably be as a volunteer, which is even better for us. We need an elite pitching coach, however. Tenn Tech pitching was worse than ours and against a weaker schedule. I like Pope personally, and think he's done a fantastic job in his year as recruiting head, but I'm far less encouraged with the impact he's had on the pitching staff.

Why throw shade on Pope? You should know that any pitching coach for Wayne is his conduit to the pitching staff. Pope is/was a good soldier and performed the task he was asked to do.

Exactly. Pope does what OG says to do. That’s his job. Pope built the Cy Ranch program from scratch and turned it into arguably the best high school program in Texas. You don’t do that without knowing baseball and specifically, pitching. His recruits haven’t stepped foot on campus and were not draft eligible yet. He has TREMENDOUS ties within the Houston coaching fraternity and Bragga will need that considering he’s coming from a different world in Tennessee.

There damn well better be somebody on the staff with strong Houston connections.

Chip, you sound disappointed with the hire which is surprising. Bragga just put together a year which surpassed any recent Rice baseball campaign (you probably have to go back a decade to 2008 and our most recent CWS appearance to find an Owl squad that was more impressive than what Tennessee Tech did this season). I stayed out of this thread for the most part and I like Lance but I think they absolutely hired a more proven collegiate head coach.

And if Annise Parker was the reason Lance wasn't hired, she should be the first person buying baseball season tickets for the 2019 season.

I don't really know anything about the hire. He certainly looks good on paper, and I've always said hire on the resume not the interview. Bill Irish and Tiki both like it, and that's good enough for me.

But to me baseball at this level is all about recruiting. There aren't a lot of schemes like football or basketball. It's pitcher, batter, and ball, see ball hit ball. And whoever wins most of those pitcher-batter battles is usually going to win the game. Wayne won a national championship, and got back to Omaha a few other times, with players predominantly from the Houston area. I think the number one criterion has to be ability to recruit the Houston area. As long as Bragga knows that and hires his staff accordingly, we will be fine.

But I just don't see coaches as being transformational, outside of their ability to recruit.

(06-15-2018 04:52 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(06-15-2018 11:22 AM)illiniowl Wrote:  Has Deggs interviewed or even applied? I'd rate him as the best of the "conventional wisdom" field but is there even mutual interest?

If Berkman's religious views were a problem, Deggs would be a complete non-starter. Otherwise he's a great coach and his kids love playing for him.

That's right, Rice can"' stand Christians. So much baggage with the followers.

What's the difference what Berkman does in his personal life? That is the dumbest thing I heard would influence him not be selected. Lets hire a transvestite.
That would satisfy everybody.

(06-19-2018 09:43 AM)esposito Wrote:  

(06-15-2018 04:52 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(06-15-2018 11:22 AM)illiniowl Wrote:  Has Deggs interviewed or even applied? I'd rate him as the best of the "conventional wisdom" field but is there even mutual interest?

If Berkman's religious views were a problem, Deggs would be a complete non-starter. Otherwise he's a great coach and his kids love playing for him.

That's right, Rice can stand Christians. So much baggage with the followers.

What's the difference what Berkman does in his personal life? That is the dumbest thing I heard would influence him not be selected. Lets hire a transvestite.
That would satisfy everybody.

(06-19-2018 09:43 AM)esposito Wrote:  

(06-15-2018 04:52 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(06-15-2018 11:22 AM)illiniowl Wrote:  Has Deggs interviewed or even applied? I'd rate him as the best of the "conventional wisdom" field but is there even mutual interest?

If Berkman's religious views were a problem, Deggs would be a complete non-starter. Otherwise he's a great coach and his kids love playing for him.

That's right, Rice can stand Christians. So much baggage with the followers.

(06-19-2018 10:42 AM)OldOwl Wrote:  What's the difference what Berkman does in his personal life? That is the dumbest thing I heard would influence him not be selected. Lets hire a transvestite.
That would satisfy everybody.

(06-19-2018 09:43 AM)esposito Wrote:  

(06-15-2018 04:52 PM)Owl 69/70/75 Wrote:  

(06-15-2018 11:22 AM)illiniowl Wrote:  Has Deggs interviewed or even applied? I'd rate him as the best of the "conventional wisdom" field but is there even mutual interest?

If Berkman's religious views were a problem, Deggs would be a complete non-starter. Otherwise he's a great coach and his kids love playing for him.

That's right, Rice can stand Christians. So much baggage with the followers.

Agreed. So much for tolerance. Getting pretty close to being done with Rice. Nothing against Bragga. I cannot get past Ms. Parker calling and threatening backlash. This most certainly played into the decision to pass Berkman by. Again I want Bragga to do well but if he's such a great coach why was he not hired away the previous 15 years at Tenn Tech?

Hopefully that is a testament to his loyalty.

FWIW Bragga did apply for the LA Tech job after Greg Goff left and they instead hired Lane Burroughs.

He was also mentioned as a contender for the Kentucky job after they fired Gary Henderson.