Tech had a winning baseball program under Gravy and for a short while thereafter. The only thing that changed was coaching (and recruiting).
Same with WBB. "Had" a winning program under legendary coaching and when coaching changed the program begin to decline. There is NO reason why Tech can't be competitive again in baseball. If ULL can be competitive then Tech can as well. As for WBB - not so sure.
THIS!!!!
There are at least five college baseball teams in Louisiana with winning records at the present time.
There's no reason Tech can't excel in baseball. North Louisiana has some of the best talent the state can offer, and Ruston is a prime location to recruit the surrounding states as well. No excuses in my opinion.
I agree. Look at the 2011-2012 overall stats http://www.latechsports.com/sports/m.../teamcume.html when we came in 3rd in the WAC. No need to fabricate excuses for Sim....he's pretty good at that.
Well considering he would fire his best friend, Andermann shows his loyalty to his job. He has also had to keep Rountree around. BR has made it through 2 other coaching changes. How is this? His pitchers cannot stop anyone. They just joined a new conference, make him find new pitching coach and make Simoneaux get on road and recruit(He did a great job at ULALA). I know for a fact baseball players did not like playing baseball that far away because the parents could not go. That has hurt recruiting. Now that they can stay in or near LA, things could change. Give him 2-3 years and see if so. No one can complain that he has improved the facilities. These 2 things may get players in.
Simoneaux got three more years in the fall of 2011 through June 30, 2014.
Since then Tech is 55-82 (.401) and 16-41 (.281) in conference games. Simply not good enough no matter how much things have improved off the field.
The problem with Simoneaux...he thinks he's smarter than anyone else. Sim will not listen to any other coach, before or present, he over-coaches the players and micro manages the team. What another coach thinks is not important to him.
Next, if Sim THINKS a player can play, no matter what the stats show or what his coaches may suggest to him, he will play that person. I think he does this just to try and prove himself right. He just doesn't manage the players he has.
I've watched Tech baseball for many years and I never like to second guess any coach, but things Sim does defy logic. While sometimes going with your gut may work, baseball is still a numbers game. He does not know how to coach at this level.
Sim is 70 games below .500 in conference play for his career. I don't think anything shy of a CWS appearance should save his job.