Coaching confusion.

[Jacksdude]

It has been clear to me for some time now that the hiring of Brian Grunzke makes little to no sense. The guy has never recruited or worked with D1 talent in about 30 years of coaching. So when he goes out to California to recruit, he looks for the same thing he always looked for in a player, and that is D2 talent. He already brought in two guys from his old school who from the sounds of it, would be hard pressed to get on the field at USF. I know that Schrage is comfortable with him because they have coached together before, but you are putting a growing program in jeopardy by hiring a guy who doesn't have the background to keep it growing. It's like getting a guy to come into your office to teach your staff about floppy disks in 2012, He is so used to one type of player and thats not the type of players that SDSU needs. I have met him and he is a great guy, and I hope things change for the better but we need some serious recruiting pros here, there just isnt enough talent in South Dakota to win 20 games a season and that is who the Jacks are going to be stuck with. I just don't want us to end up being like NDSU the last 5 years... They are moving forward and we are moving backward.
On a side note, I do blame Ritchie Price for a lot of it too.. Guy had his whole body out the door the last two seasons.. hes lucky that Reggie brought him such good recruits. Unfortunately they have all graduated now.

[LakeJack]

Re: Coaching confusion.

I don't know Brian very well, but will note that he is the first full time assistant our program has ever had. So that is an upgrade by default. He we a head coach at the Jr. College ranks for something like 16 years, was an Assistant Coach at D-I Arkansas Little Rock for 2 years, was an assistant at D-I UNI, and most recently was at D-II U of Illinois Springfield. Since he just got here on Aug. 18th I am inclined to give him a chance before I pass judgement on his ability to recruit.

[Jacksdude]

Re: Coaching confusion.

Having a full time assistant is great, but why not stay with what is working, hire a young coach, who knows modern baseball, and who is aspiring to be a head coach. Not a guy who has been an average assistant on average teams his whole life. They probably should have given the job to Scott Hood. I would say they should of given it to Oakes, but he wouldn't take it.

[Nidaros]

Re: Coaching confusion.

Having a full time assistant is great, but why not stay with what is working, hire a young coach, who knows modern baseball, and who is aspiring to be a head coach. Not a guy who has been an average assistant on average teams his whole life. They probably should have given the job to Scott Hood. I would say they should of given it to Oakes, but he wouldn't take it.

Who is Scott Hood?

[Jacksdude]

Re: Coaching confusion.

Former 2 year player for SDSU and now in his second year of coaching for the Jacks....

[76Rabbit]

Re: Coaching confusion.

I would agree that Ritchie won with Reggies recruits. However, they have not all graduated. This years seniors as well as several of the redshirt juniors were all Reggie's recruits, just never had a chance to play for him.

It has been clear to me for some time now that the hiring of Brian Grunzke makes little to no sense. The guy has never recruited or worked with D1 talent in about 30 years of coaching. So when he goes out to California to recruit, he looks for the same thing he always looked for in a player, and that is D2 talent. He already brought in two guys from his old school who from the sounds of it, would be hard pressed to get on the field at USF. I know that Schrage is comfortable with him because they have coached together before, but you are putting a growing program in jeopardy by hiring a guy who doesn't have the background to keep it growing. It's like getting a guy to come into your office to teach your staff about floppy disks in 2012, He is so used to one type of player and thats not the type of players that SDSU needs. I have met him and he is a great guy, and I hope things change for the better but we need some serious recruiting pros here, there just isnt enough talent in South Dakota to win 20 games a season and that is who the Jacks are going to be stuck with. I just don't want us to end up being like NDSU the last 5 years... They are moving forward and we are moving backward.
On a side note, I do blame Ritchie Price for a lot of it too.. Guy had his whole body out the door the last two seasons.. hes lucky that Reggie brought him such good recruits. Unfortunately they have all graduated now.

[Homer Jack]

Re: Coaching confusion.

Not even halfway through his first full baseball season and someone is already throwing the coach under the bus. Ritchie Price started his career out 5-22 before his team made a run. The recruits on this team are not Grunzke or Schrage's. Recruiting in the midwest is difficult. Getting the "big name" guy to come to SDSU is unheard of. SDSU recruits players that are hard nosed and play the game right:
*Trever Vermeulen: walk on All American who was not a big name recruit even in SD
*Blake Treinen: everyone knows his story (didn't make Arkansas; JV team at Baker College; 7th rounder)
*Tyson Fisher: only SDSU recruited Tyson
*Jake Rogers: talent up the wazzoo and 18th rounder and had few choices but SDSU
*Craig Parry: last round draft pick with few choices for colleges to play ball.

If you look at the people above, they had few choices to go division I. At the time, many of those players were probably DII players that came on very strong (also see 2007 SDSU Baseball team - Independent league champs). Most of the players SDSU gets are not huge recruits but players willing to work hard and make a name for themself. The most appealing part of Jacks baseball is playing as a true freshman.

Schrage is exactly what the baseball team needs at this point. A seasoned coach who knows what he is doing, has shown the ability to recruit and has the ability to put a great team on the field. Who he chooses as his assistant is probably the correct person to get the job done (see Schrage's resume: UNI, Evansville, Notre Dame, National coach of the year runner up).

The first time you fell off your bike did your parents toss you to the curb?

Regarding the two guys that followed Grunzke to SDSU: You can follow an old coach anywhere. Did any other recruits not turn out (See Danny Klous @ SDSU (nothing against him but he just couldn't pitch as a big recruit), most college baseball players and about 3/4 of all players taken in every MLB draft).

If SDSU only got DI talent and didn't take any chances, they would not have a team anymore. The Coaches at SDSU are exactly what we need (someone who will stay longer than 3 years). If this was 5 years in then I would have a slight concern. Right now, I see it as a minor bump in the road.
-Homer

It has been clear to me for some time now that the hiring of Brian Grunzke makes little to no sense. The guy has never recruited or worked with D1 talent in about 30 years of coaching. So when he goes out to California to recruit, he looks for the same thing he always looked for in a player, and that is D2 talent. He already brought in two guys from his old school who from the sounds of it, would be hard pressed to get on the field at USF. I know that Schrage is comfortable with him because they have coached together before, but you are putting a growing program in jeopardy by hiring a guy who doesn't have the background to keep it growing. It's like getting a guy to come into your office to teach your staff about floppy disks in 2012, He is so used to one type of player and thats not the type of players that SDSU needs. I have met him and he is a great guy, and I hope things change for the better but we need some serious recruiting pros here, there just isnt enough talent in South Dakota to win 20 games a season and that is who the Jacks are going to be stuck with. I just don't want us to end up being like NDSU the last 5 years... They are moving forward and we are moving backward.
On a side note, I do blame Ritchie Price for a lot of it too.. Guy had his whole body out the door the last two seasons.. hes lucky that Reggie brought him such good recruits. Unfortunately they have all graduated now.

[Nidaros]

Re: Coaching confusion.

Thanks Homer Jack, a great deal said, that needed to be said.

[Homer Jack]

Re: Coaching confusion.

Thanks Nidaros, tried to make my first post a good one!

-Homer

Thanks Homer Jack, a great deal said, that needed to be said.

[76Rabbit]

Re: Coaching confusion.

Nice post Homer. Couldn't agree more.

[sdjackfan40]

Re: Coaching confusion.

Great post Homer Jack. You hit the nail on the head about not being able to recruit that big name kid to come here. Even the best in state kids seem to go else where. I think they have this grand idea that the out of state schools are that much better of baseball programs. But I think with baseball probably more then any other sport playing time is much more crucial in developing and improving. If you look at some of kids that have gone out of state a lot of them don't start seeing much playing time after a couple of years there or some decide to transfer to other schools. Sam Wolff from Rapid City went to San Diego, then to a junior college and now New Mexico. Ryan Hander from Sioux Falls is a junior who is finally getting some innings out of the bullpen for Nebraska but his 1st 2 years only had 14 2/3 IP. Aaron Labrie at Wichita State redshirted and then pitched a decent amount out of the bullpen last season and has 8 2/3 IP so far this season. Brandon Rainford of Rapid City for UNLV pitched 16 1/3 innings last season as a freshman and has yet to pitch this season. The list could go on and on. I think if a lot of these kids would consider and come to SDSU they could probably could start right away and get that on the field experience and time they need to develop.

[BKXD]

Re: Coaching confusion.

I think our recruiting potential will improve drastically once the indoor practice facility is built. In fact, I think all of the spring sports, including softball, track and field, etc. will see a recruiting boost by this facility.

[joeboo22]

Re: Coaching confusion.

Baseball is hard to recruit, because there are so many factors associated. You can take a great athlete and put him on a football field and make something out of him, similar to basketball. But with baseball you can recruit pitchers who can throw 96, but they have to be able to control it. You can recruit the star athlete, but if he can't hit it doesn't matter much. In the mid-west there is a big difference between college and high school, no year round programs, few states even have real high school programs, so the guy who can hit well against the guy who throws 80 mph's with a decent second pitch, may not be able to touch the guy who can throw 88mph with a great second pitch.

I don't think you can associate a bad record (so far) with the coach, I think you have to let things pan out.

[BTownJack]

Re: Coaching confusion.

Great post Homer Jack. You hit the nail on the head about not being able to recruit that big name kid to come here. Even the best in state kids seem to go else where. I think they have this grand idea that the out of state schools are that much better of baseball programs. But I think with baseball probably more then any other sport playing time is much more crucial in developing and improving. If you look at some of kids that have gone out of state a lot of them don't start seeing much playing time after a couple of years there or some decide to transfer to other schools. Sam Wolff from Rapid City went to San Diego, then to a junior college and now New Mexico. Ryan Hander from Sioux Falls is a junior who is finally getting some innings out of the bullpen for Nebraska but his 1st 2 years only had 14 2/3 IP. Aaron Labrie at Wichita State redshirted and then pitched a decent amount out of the bullpen last season and has 8 2/3 IP so far this season. Brandon Rainford of Rapid City for UNLV pitched 16 1/3 innings last season as a freshman and has yet to pitch this season. The list could go on and on. I think if a lot of these kids would consider and come to SDSU they could probably could start right away and get that on the field experience and time they need to develop.

I do not disagree to you but this is no different than any other sport. A handful of SD/Midwest kids could come to SDSU and play right away and be a potential star. For whatever reason - most 18 year olds would rather go to a school that has more name recognition in most people's minds, regarless of early playing time opportunities. Right or wrong - most of the time you don't know until their careers are complete at the said school.

[RabbitObsessed]

Re: Coaching confusion.

Some of it might be name recognition but there could be other factors as well.

Many 18 year olds might just want to leave South Dakota and try something new. I've loved my time at SDSU, but part of me regrets not going somewhere farther away for school.

There are also kids that want the challenge of competing with the best in the country.