Softball Assistants

[Quick Pitch]

Why are we going down this road again of hiring "kids" as assistant coaches? Our players need teachers, not someone they can "relate" to. Is it asking too much to hire someone that brings coaching experience to the table? Just because someone was a great player doesn't mean that they can coach at all. Can you imagine Gene Stephenson hiring a couple of kids as his assistants?
And I think the heat is getting to me because I could have sworn that moose said we should look at maybe getting a juco pitcher!
I agree that would be a good idea but better yet it would have been nice if Pooch would have simply signed one of the 4 pitchers from the city league who were all better than anyone on his pitching staff.
I guess in his defense he did sign one of them but the Mustangs coach convinced her to de-committ.

[flyingMoose]

... one of the 4 pitchers from the city league who were all better than anyone on his pitching staff.

What??!! Four?? Off the top of my head, I can only think of (maybe) one, and I'm not sure she meets the "better than" criteria. BWDIK.

[flyingMoose]

Why are we going down this road again of hiring "kids" as assistant coaches? ... Is it asking too much to hire someone that brings coaching experience to the table?

I wonder about this, too. Does coming from a D-II school, no matter how successful the program, make it difficult to get experienced assistants? Dunno. Though it seems from Coach B's perspective, the hiring of Coach Sheeley was a lock.

[Quick Pitch]

It shouldn't matter if she came from a DII program. I am sure that there are plenty of experienced candidates.
Again, maybe I hold WSU in too high of regard, but in my mind, this is (or should be) a big time program. Yet our softball program seems to be nothing more than a training facility for inexperienced young coaches. Or in some cases, former players who want to learn to be a coach.
I believe that our softball team could and should have the same success that our baseball team has had. And like I said, I seriously doubt that Gene would have hired 2 kids to help build his program.

The 4 pitchers who could have helped from the city league:
Jess Sturm (Goddard, not city but close enough)
Mac Milspaugh
Sidney Eck (Andale)
Megan Wilson (quit her high school team and no longer playing, but probably would have kept playing if she had an offer from WSU)

[flyingMoose]

It shouldn't matter if she came from a DII program. I am sure that there are plenty of experienced candidates.

Not seeing the stack of resumes, I have no idea how many experienced candidates there were - which is back to my original point: perhaps there were precious few.

The 4 pitchers who could have helped from the city league:
Jess Sturm (Goddard, not city but close enough)
Mac Milspaugh
Sidney Eck (Andale)
Megan Wilson (quit her high school team and no longer playing, but probably would have kept playing if she had an offer from WSU)

Two of those are from the GWAL, not four. Remember, I am possibly a math/science person, so the ability to count and categorize is important to me. :) Reasonable people could differ on the ability of any of those four to pitch at the D-I level. We certainly differ on the list as a whole, but I wouldn't say none of them would be successful at D-I.

[1B29]

We had several experienced D1 coaches apply both head and assistant. Coaches from Big 12, SEC, and other conferences applied. They were males though. Go figure.

[Quick Pitch]

Like I said, to Pooch's credit he did get Sturm. But from what I was told, the Mustangs coach convinced her that if she would dump WSU he could get her an offer from a better school. I saw on Hovpen that she signed at Norther Ill. I don't even know if that is a D1 school or not.

[1972Shocker]

NIU is a D-1 school and a member of the MAC. Not a bad conference and they do play football.

However, I don't see it being a step up from WSU.

[flyingMoose]

NIU is a D-1 school and a member of the MAC. Not a bad confernece and they do play football.

However, I don't see it being a step up from WSU.

It's not.

The average RPI of the MVC this past year was 141 with four teams in the top 100 and six teams in the top 150. Wichita State had an RPI of 193.

The average RPI of the twelve-team MAC was 150 with three teams in the top 100 and six teams in the top 150. Northern Illinois had an RPI of 124.

[1972Shocker]

I seriously doubt that Gene would have hired 2 kids to help build his program.

Maybe not 2, but he did hire Brent right out of Phillips as a 21 year old grad assistant in 1978 before promoting him to a full time assistant in 1980. That kid has worked out pretty well. Not saying the same will happen with Coach B's staff but it is not without precedent to have success with a young coach. If nothing else they should be hungry and enthusiastic. Hopeully, it works out for the Shocks.

Edit: I might add that Gene was not a grizzled coaching veteran when he was hired either. 1 year as a grad assistant at Missou followed by 3 years in the US Army and then 5 years on Enos Semore's staff at OU. I suppose it is arguable that Gene's experience as an assistant under Enos Semore was more valuable then Coach B's D-II head coaching experience (7 years) and her experience as an assistant at D-1 Santa Barbara (3 years).

[ShockTalk]

I seriously doubt that Gene would have hired 2 kids to help build his program.

Maybe not 2, but he did hire Brent right out of Phillips as a 21 year old grad assistant in 1978 before promoting him to a full time assistant in 1980. That kid has worked out pretty well. Not saying the same will happen with Coach B's staff but it is not without precedent to have success with a young coach. If nothing else they should be hungry and enthusiastic. Hopeully, it works out for the Shocks.

Edit: I might add that Gene was not a grizzled coaching veteran when he was hired either. 1 year as a grad assistant at Missou followed by 3 years in the US Army and then 5 years on Enos Semore's staff at OU. I suppose it is arguable that Gene's experience as an assistant under Enos Semore was more valuable then Coach B's D-II head coaching experience (7 years) and her experience as an assistant at D-1 Santa Barbara (3 years).

Totally different circumstances people. An existing softball program with nice facilities vs a start-up baseball program with...well...nothing.

What that situation can attract as head and assistant coaches is going to be different.

[1972Shocker]

Here is the official announcement on the Shocker Softball Assistants

http://www.goshockers.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=61321&SPID=2845&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205240940&DB_OEM_ID=7500

Samantha Sheeley and Samantha Ricketts, as previously reported on Shockernet, are officially on board.