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Comebakatz3

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We don't have anyone on the ride yet, but others are getting it fired up. Ohio State fired their coach. WKU is looking for a new one. It is not yet in full tilt, but this thing will get going real soon. I have to expect that both Missouri and South Carolina's coaches are at least at risk, if not already gone. Brad Bohannon at Alabama might be on a hot seat if his team gets left out of the NCAA tournament.

Just want to get this started as the coaching season has begun.
 
To follow up, I’m not convinced UK wants to compete.

I think we want to compete. Barnhart has done a whole lot to ensure that almost every program on campus is competitive and he's made almost all of them better than when he found them. However, the question is whether or not he thinks Mingione can be the guy to help them compete.

I'll be honest that there was a time where I didn't think Stoops could be that person. We were losing to, or almost losing to, the likes of EKU and I just didn't think we'd turn a corner. I was wrong. I sit here today thinking that we won't turn a corner with Mingione. I didn't have the patience Mitch did with Stoops and if I had been the one making the decisions, we wouldn't be seeing that return on investment today. So, will Mitch once again show patience and give Mingione another year or more? I don't know. I am less inclined to believe that he works out long term like Stoops has. Still, I don't think that Barnhart isn't making a move because he doesn't care. I think it would be because he still has confidence in Mingione.
 
Stoops was at least recruiting decently and by year six clear improvement was being made. Year six for Mingione and you can’t say that.
 
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I think we want to compete. Barnhart has done a whole lot to ensure that almost every program on campus is competitive and he's made almost all of them better than when he found them. However, the question is whether or not he thinks Mingione can be the guy to help them compete.

I'll be honest that there was a time where I didn't think Stoops could be that person. We were losing to, or almost losing to, the likes of EKU and I just didn't think we'd turn a corner. I was wrong. I sit here today thinking that we won't turn a corner with Mingione. I didn't have the patience Mitch did with Stoops and if I had been the one making the decisions, we wouldn't be seeing that return on investment today. So, will Mitch once again show patience and give Mingione another year or more? I don't know. I am less inclined to believe that he works out long term like Stoops has. Still, I don't think that Barnhart isn't making a move because he doesn't care. I think it would be because he still has confidence in Mingione.

Excellent point. THe main difference, imo, is that Stoops was clearly "building something". One can argue that it took a year or two too long to build, but he clearly built a culture for the long haul. Ming seems to be the opposite...lots of transfers, too reliant on the portal, acrimony by former players who have graduated and / or have left...

I think Mitch has earned some trust here, but I'm already disappointed in the inevitable return of Ming in 23.
 
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Mitch and Mingione are church buddies……Mitch will not fire him unless he absolutely has to. Even though Mingione really hasn’t done anything while he’s been here and it’s looking grim for next year, Mitch won’t axe him.
 
Excellent point. THe main difference, imo, is that Stoops was clearly "building something". One can argue that it took a year or two too long to build, but he clearly built a culture for the long haul. Ming seems to be the opposite...lots of transfers, too reliant on the portal, acrimony by former players who have graduated and / or have left...

I think Mitch has earned some trust here, but I'm already disappointed in the inevitable return of Ming in 23.

I agree. Still, at the time, it was hard for me to see that when we needed a hail Mary pass to beat EKU, or we were getting beat by UL by way too much. I also think it is harder to build up football than it is baseball. I mean, UT and Louisville did it in short order. So, it can be done. I also think that Stoops had a much more bare cupboard than Mingione did.
 
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I agree. Still, at the time, it was hard for me to see that when we needed a hail Mary pass to beat EKU, or we were getting beat by UL by way too much. I also think it is harder to build up football than it is baseball. I mean, UT and Louisville did it in short order. So, it can be done. I also think that Stoops had a much more bare cupboard than Mingione did.
Stoops had almost nothing to start with, whereas Mingione inherited his best team since he’s been here. Stoops went up and Mingione went down.
 
Stoops had almost nothing to start with, whereas Mingione inherited his best team since he’s been here. Stoops went up and Mingione went down.
Ming inherited a lot hence the somewhat successful first year.

What happened after that was poor recruiting which still plagues us.

Whether its assistants evaluating players or we are too late to the game or what but we don't have the horses to develop and compete in the SEC.

Go back to 2017-2018 which were players potentially not recruited by Ming, his recruits are not top tier guys.
Rhodes was nice and got drafted and other than that......
Hagenow could have been but he has been injured and not developed.

Time for a change to a guy who has been a Head Coach with assistants who know how to develop and recruit.
 
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Ming inherited a lot hence the somewhat successful first year.

What happened after that was poor recruiting which still plagues us.

Whether its assistants evaluating players or we are too late to the game or what but we don't have the horses to develop and compete in the SEC.

Go back to 2017-2018 which were players potentially not recruited by Ming, his recruits are not top tier guys.
Rhodes was nice and got drafted and other than that......
Hagenow could have been but he has been injured and not developed.

Time for a change to a guy who has been a Head Coach with assistants who know how to develop and recruit.

I think the most obvious thing for me is that in the 6 years that he has been here we have not had a true Friday night ace since Thompson. Thompson was a Henderson guy. So, we have yet to recruit and develop a guy that we would consider a true Friday night ace. We have had some solid pitchers and guys that I like, but we can't really say we have had that dominant guy. I would wager that in the same timeframe that every successful team we face has had at least one of those guys. I think that alone is very telling about how we are with recruiting.
 
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At this point I’ll be surprised if Ming isn’t coaching here next year. We don’t have a large enough baseball fan base or media that actually covers it to move the needle. He did average enough this year that I don’t see Mitch making a move unfortunately.
 
Ming inherited a lot hence the somewhat successful first year.

What happened after that was poor recruiting which still plagues us.

Whether its assistants evaluating players or we are too late to the game or what but we don't have the horses to develop and compete in the SEC.

Go back to 2017-2018 which were players potentially not recruited by Ming, his recruits are not top tier guys.
Rhodes was nice and got drafted and other than that......
Hagenow could have been but he has been injured and not developed.

Time for a change to a guy who has been a Head Coach with assistants who know how to develop and recruit.
Hagenow is the perfect example of lack of development within the program. It doesn’t appear as if he’s improved one bit since he’s been here.
 
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At this point I’ll be surprised if Ming isn’t coaching here next year. We don’t have a large enough baseball fan base or media that actually covers it to move the needle. He did average enough this year that I don’t see Mitch making a move unfortunately.
I’d almost bet the farm Mingione is back next year.
 
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I just want to remind everyone that in 3 short years Texas and Oklahoma will join the SEC. Texas is currently a top 10 RPI team and will host a regional, if not a super regional this year. Oklahoma is 27th in RPI and will be a 2 seed somewhere, but they're pushing up the ladder with a good Big12 tourney run.

So, the SEC gets more difficult in 3 years. Time to make the change now. Give a new coach that 3 year window to get his team up to speed so we're not further behind the two new league teams.
 
I just want to remind everyone that in 3 short years Texas and Oklahoma will join the SEC. Texas is currently a top 10 RPI team and will host a regional, if not a super regional this year. Oklahoma is 27th in RPI and will be a 2 seed somewhere, but they're pushing up the ladder with a good Big12 tourney run.

So, the SEC gets more difficult in 3 years. Time to make the change now. Give a new coach that 3 year window to get his team up to speed so we're not further behind the two new league teams.
Honest question? Does wanting a new coach put you in a position to not pull for UK to win?

I know you’re a big fan. Love the Cats. Knowledgeable. I saw the same type UK football fans having the same dilemma with Curry and Phillips. Has to be tough?

I will accept and go with your opinion on needing a new coach as you obviously know your stuff and baseball in the SEC.

Just curious on your feelings with this crucial game. Do you just not watch or listen today? Feel bad for you in this spot. You love UK baseball but feel strongly it needs a change at the top to compete long term. Staying the course is not acceptable?
 
Honest question? Does wanting a new coach put you in a position to not pull for UK to win?

I know you’re a big fan. Love the Cats. Knowledgeable. I saw the same type UK football fans having the same dilemma with Curry and Phillips. Has to be tough?

I will accept and go with your opinion on needing a new coach as you obviously know your stuff and baseball in the SEC.

Just curious on your feelings with this crucial game. Do you just not watch or listen today? Feel bad for you in this spot. You love UK baseball but feel strongly it needs a change at the top to compete long term. Staying the course is not acceptable?

I guess to analogize it to football... it would be like a coach coming in with Stoops' players and going to the SEC Championship game in year one. That would be massive and historic and we'd all have this extremely high hope for the future. Year 2 he then slips back to like 7-5 despite returning a whole lot of the best players from the year prior. You don't worry too much, injuries derailed things, but a lot of those players graduate or go pro, so in year 4 they go like 3-9. Year 4 is canceled part of the way through, but it really looked like we were staring another 3-9 type season in the face, maybe even 2-10. Year 5 is an improvement and we go 5-7. Still not great, but better than 3-9. Then year 6 we bring in a ton of transfers with a year of eligibility and we go 6-6, mostly beating teams we shouldn't to get to a bowl game. Then, looking at the roster you realize that this is an older team and will lose most of the starters.

So, if you take this analogy... would you think the program is going in the right direction going into year 7? Are years 1 and an average or so year 6 enough to warrant a year 7 and beyond? Especially given that you know that year 7 is likely to be a tough one given the turnover. Now mix in that your two biggest rivals (Tennessee and Louisville) are starting to regularly make it to the College Football Playoffs and Tennessee spent the entire year that you were 6-6 at number 1 in the nation, with a coach that has been there a year less than your own. Is barely making a bowl game really enough to make you want to keep that coach longer?

To me... the first one seems like an outlier and the 6th year, while pretty decent, isn't enough to show me that the ship is righted. I don't want a team that is happy with a bowl game. A bowl game should be the standard, not the exception. Bowl games should be expected and it should be considered a failure when you don't make them.

To me, the NCAA tournament is like a bowl game. I want to get to the point that we expect to be there every year. I want that to be our mindset and not that we celebrate barely getting in. I don't think Mingione raises that bar.

So, I am kind of in a tough spot with this. On one hand... I hope they go win the whole damn thing and make me look like a real fool. This team is a bunch of good guys and they deserve good things, so go do it. On the other hand, I don't mind if they lose and we move on. Not going to actively root against them, but I'm also not overly upset when there is a loss.

What will upset me, though, is if at the end of June Mingione is still our coach.
 
I guess to analogize it to football... it would be like a coach coming in with Stoops' players and going to the SEC Championship game in year one. That would be massive and historic and we'd all have this extremely high hope for the future. Year 2 he then slips back to like 7-5 despite returning a whole lot of the best players from the year prior. You don't worry too much, injuries derailed things, but a lot of those players graduate or go pro, so in year 4 they go like 3-9. Year 4 is canceled part of the way through, but it really looked like we were staring another 3-9 type season in the face, maybe even 2-10. Year 5 is an improvement and we go 5-7. Still not great, but better than 3-9. Then year 6 we bring in a ton of transfers with a year of eligibility and we go 6-6, mostly beating teams we shouldn't to get to a bowl game. Then, looking at the roster you realize that this is an older team and will lose most of the starters.

So, if you take this analogy... would you think the program is going in the right direction going into year 7? Are years 1 and an average or so year 6 enough to warrant a year 7 and beyond? Especially given that you know that year 7 is likely to be a tough one given the turnover. Now mix in that your two biggest rivals (Tennessee and Louisville) are starting to regularly make it to the College Football Playoffs and Tennessee spent the entire year that you were 6-6 at number 1 in the nation, with a coach that has been there a year less than your own. Is barely making a bowl game really enough to make you want to keep that coach longer?

To me... the first one seems like an outlier and the 6th year, while pretty decent, isn't enough to show me that the ship is righted. I don't want a team that is happy with a bowl game. A bowl game should be the standard, not the exception. Bowl games should be expected and it should be considered a failure when you don't make them.

To me, the NCAA tournament is like a bowl game. I want to get to the point that we expect to be there every year. I want that to be our mindset and not that we celebrate barely getting in. I don't think Mingione raises that bar.

So, I am kind of in a tough spot with this. On one hand... I hope they go win the whole damn thing and make me look like a real fool. This team is a bunch of good guys and they deserve good things, so go do it. On the other hand, I don't mind if they lose and we move on. Not going to actively root against them, but I'm also not overly upset when there is a loss.

What will upset me, though, is if at the end of June Mingione is still our coach.
I get it. You presented a good retro and long term reality check and your correct.

I am an in the moment guy and do see a bunch of guys fighting hard and appearing to have a lot of fun. I was so angry with those missed strike 3 calls against Mason last night. We had the lead at that point. Hurt us badly.

Long-term you make sense. He’s had his chance and the program has not improved.

Seems like there is plenty talent in the tristate area and in particular Ky. Maybe a new guy could invigorate the program. Lots of dormant baseball fans around Lexington.
 
I get it. You presented a good retro and long term reality check and your correct.

I am an in the moment guy and do see a bunch of guys fighting hard and appearing to have a lot of fun. I was so angry with those missed strike 3 calls against Mason last night. We had the lead at that point. Hurt us badly.

Long-term you make sense. He’s had his chance and the program has not improved.

Seems like there is plenty talent in the tristate area and in particular Ky. Maybe a new guy could invigorate the program. Lots of dormant baseball fans around Lexington.

This is definitely a tight-knit team and they are playing hard and playing for one another. They have never given up. Many teams would have laid down in the UT series and just gotten rolled over. They went out and won it. So, they deserve a ton of respect for that and it is a huge part of why they have been as successful as they have been.
 
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I get it. You presented a good retro and long term reality check and your correct.

I am an in the moment guy and do see a bunch of guys fighting hard and appearing to have a lot of fun. I was so angry with those missed strike 3 calls against Mason last night. We had the lead at that point. Hurt us badly.

Long-term you make sense. He’s had his chance and the program has not improved.

Seems like there is plenty talent in the tristate area and in particular Ky. Maybe a new guy could invigorate the program. Lots of dormant baseball fans around Lexington.
There is plenty of talent in the area. Problem is most of the better kids in KY are going to UL.
 
I get it. You presented a good retro and long term reality check and your correct.

I am an in the moment guy and do see a bunch of guys fighting hard and appearing to have a lot of fun. I was so angry with those missed strike 3 calls against Mason last night. We had the lead at that point. Hurt us badly.

Long-term you make sense. He’s had his chance and the program has not improved.

Seems like there is plenty talent in the tristate area and in particular Ky. Maybe a new guy could invigorate the program. Lots of dormant baseball fans around Lexington.
It will take a coach to come in and turn around the program and the perception that UK doesn’t care about baseball. I think the latter will be the hardest part.
 
It will take a coach to come in and turn around the program and the perception that UK doesn’t care about baseball. I think the latter will be the hardest part.
I think Mitch has to designate a person to run baseball. Somebody that will market it. Improve the stadium. Bring back the outfield pavilion for the students. Market market market. Sell beer. Get the tailgating going.
Help promote and recruit recruit recent. Get their own John Wall.
If it includes a new coach then get one.
 
I get it. You presented a good retro and long term reality check and your correct.

I am an in the moment guy and do see a bunch of guys fighting hard and appearing to have a lot of fun. I was so angry with those missed strike 3 calls against Mason last night. We had the lead at that point. Hurt us badly.

Long-term you make sense. He’s had his chance and the program has not improved.

Seems like there is plenty talent in the tristate area and in particular Ky. Maybe a new guy could invigorate the program. Lots of dormant baseball fans around Lexington.
There are many of us that live in Louisville that are not U6 fans , but certainly envy their baseball program.
 
I just want to remind everyone that in 3 short years Texas and Oklahoma will join the SEC. Texas is currently a top 10 RPI team and will host a regional, if not a super regional this year. Oklahoma is 27th in RPI and will be a 2 seed somewhere, but they're pushing up the ladder with a good Big12 tourney run.

So, the SEC gets more difficult in 3 years. Time to make the change now. Give a new coach that 3 year window to get his team up to speed so we're not further behind the two new league teams.
Think everyone understands this except Mitch
 
I know I’ve been quiet around here the last week and a half but between two graduations and some personal stuff, baseball really hasn’t been my top priority. That being said, I’m still in the camp that Kentucky needs a change. Will it happen, not a chance. Too many good feels right now. Don’t get me wrong, seeing the run in the tournament was awesome. But where was this team all year? Where was this fight they showed over the last 5 days? If the team that showed up in Hoover had been the team we seen since February, we’d be talking about hosting a regional and possibly being a national seed. But instead, we’re going to be chomping at our nails to see if Kentucky even gets into the NCAA. No one knows what 2023 will bring but just going on what UK loses, it could be a worse dumpster fire than this season.

I’m over the Mingione era at UK. But unfortunately we all have to ride this train with him for another year.
 
Even if we didn’t go on the big run in the SEC tournament, Mingione would be back next year.
 
This run fully saved him regardless. Guess it'll be an interesting off season as we scramble to fill the roster with transfers. Will be basically an all new starting 10.
I can see getting a couple quality kids but 8-9 isn’t very likely.
 
I can see getting a couple quality kids but 8-9 isn’t very likely.

Not really quoting you specifically but this is a point that was mentioned last night. It took Kentucky almost the entire season to gel because of so many new guys. Mingione even said himself during the Vandy game that it took longer to figure things out than in the past. This is the fault of no one else besides the head coach. You build a new team year in and year out, this is what happens. The transfer portal cannot be used to field an entire team every year. But this is what Mingione is going to do as long as he is the head coach here. He cannot recruit and develop his own guys. This reason is one of many he should be let go.
 
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Not really quoting you specifically but this is a point that was mentioned last night. It took Kentucky almost the entire season to gel because of so many new guys. Mingione even said himself during the Vandy game that it took longer to figure things out than in the past. This is the fault of no one else besides the head coach. You build a new team year in and year out, this is what happens. The transfer portal cannot be used to field an entire team every year. But this is what Mingione is going to do as long as he is the head coach here. He cannot recruit and develop his own guys. This reason is one of many he should be let go.
Portal's here to stay. Heard at the beginning of the year that Texas A&M had more portal transfers than any other school. It's just something these coaches are going to have to figure out.
 
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Not really quoting you specifically but this is a point that was mentioned last night. It took Kentucky almost the entire season to gel because of so many new guys. Mingione even said himself during the Vandy game that it took longer to figure things out than in the past. This is the fault of no one else besides the head coach. You build a new team year in and year out, this is what happens. The transfer portal cannot be used to field an entire team every year. But this is what Mingione is going to do as long as he is the head coach here. He cannot recruit and develop his own guys. This reason is one of many he should be let go.
We’re on the same page and we both know Mingione was coming back regardless. I’m a fan of Mitch but he’s really screwed over the baseball program.
 
Portal's here to stay. Heard at the beginning of the year that Texas A&M had more portal transfers than any other school. It's just something these coaches are going to have to figure out.
They did but they brought in high quality kids. It’s hard to do that annually and A&M won’t have to do that going forward. A&M went out and got one hell of a coach also.
 
Portal's here to stay. Heard at the beginning of the year that Texas A&M had more portal transfers than any other school. It's just something these coaches are going to have to figure out.

I think you may have missed my point. I know the portal is here to stay and that’s fine with me. But building a team every year with 9-10 portal guys is not the way to build a program. Especially for long term success. And as someone mentioned above you have to get quality transfers. And A&M struggled to begin the year until they gelled. Something that took UK way too long to happen.

On a side note I would be curious to know, and admittedly I’m too lazy at the moment to look, how the rest of the SEC handled the portal and who they took.
 
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I think you may have missed my point. I know the portal is here to stay and that’s fine with me. But building a team every year with 9-10 portal guys is not the way to build a program. Especially for long term success. And as someone mentioned above you have to get quality transfers. And A&M struggled to begin the year until they gelled. Something that took UK way too long to happen.

On a side note I would be curious to know, and admittedly I’m too lazy at the moment to look, how the rest of the SEC handled the portal and who they took.
I think we're basically on the same page, I was just pointing out that even good programs are using the portal. Regardless how you bring in players they still must be developed and the player has as much to do with that as anyone.
 
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I think we're basically on the same page, I was just pointing out that even good programs are using the portal. Regardless how you bring in players they still must be developed and the player has as much to do with that as anyone.

TAMU had to do it out of necessity with a first year head coach. There is nothing wrong with the portal. It should be used. However, it should be used sparingly to supplement and not to create a whole roster. We've been largely trying to build with transfers rather than 3 year recruits.
 
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