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2018 Texas Softball


texasstrong12

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1 hour ago, Js1 said:

He totally had us with that Erickson fakeout 

Not sure where that rumor started but I think there was a lot of confirmation bias as there is with most coaching hires. 

I knew it wasn't going to be Eriksen once Bohls tweeted out it "isn't going to be the South Florida coach". Bohls is being fed information from somebody in the athletic department. Bohls sucks but he's normally right on this type stuff. 

Edited by texasstrong12
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Maybe Bohls has a source but it's clear that the athletic department is plugging some of the leaks, given how relatively quiet both the softball and T&C hiring processes went. Of course, that might be because these are not sports that normally attract a lot of attention.

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2 hours ago, idigTexas said:

I was not concerned after the Floreal hire.  CDC declaring that he expects all of our programs to be competitive nationally was not lip service.  He means it.  This is getting exciting. 

Absolutely. The most exciting thing is the actions matching the words when it comes to winning. Especially when it comes to ponying up the money that it takes to win. Texas has always annoyed me with always saying that they wanted to be great but would never spend the money needed to do it, facilitates in particular. Rich people are usually cheap, but Texas was on another level when it comes to being cheap.

Edited by Trent Whaley
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I always wondered, at the beginning, if CDC reached out to Candrea and Mike was like “for the love of God, get Mike White out of the PAC 12”

Now we get to follow:

1. Staff hires

2. Potential transfers in and out - there’s rumors at least 1 UO pitcher may try to follow White

3. If any 2018 Oregon recruits request out of their NLI 

4. If any 2019-2020 Oregon recruits give us a second look

 

Edited by Js1
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CDC: Hey Mike we have an opening here at Texas, want to take over?

Mike: I'de rather not. I'm really happy with what I've done here and have going at Oregon.

CDC: Name your price

Mike: Excuse me?

CDC: Name. Your. Price.

Mike: To get my family and I to move I would need millions of dollars/yr and all new softball facilities so I'm sure you wouldn't be ab....

CDC: Done.

Mike: I need to consult my family first

CDC: Well hurry. Your flight to Austin leaves Eugene at 7pm. See you in Austin tomorrow for your introductory presser

Mike: ....did I really just do that?

 

mike-white-001jpg-69ae9d5aa2f6f82d.jpg

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9 hours ago, Machinator said:

Maybe Bohls has a source but it's clear that the athletic department is plugging some of the leaks, given how relatively quiet both the softball and T&C hiring processes went. Of course, that might be because these are not sports that normally attract a lot of attention.

 

the bolded part is the shit I am most impressed about with CDC

with Dodds there was a shit ton of leaking, but sometimes when it was really important those leaks could let some bullshit get out, but in the final years it just became a cluster fuck

with the checker board suited idiot it seemed as though 99% of the people in the AD department would leak anything and everything to make him look like shit and it worked because he looked like total shit in every one of his coaching hires and pretty much in everything else

the hiring of Charlie made Texas look like total shit and really did not do much for Charlie either......here Charlie take a bunch of cash to be the #7 choice and oh yea a some big money people do not want you either.....GOOD LUCK WITH THE MASSIVE EXPECTATIONS!!!!

the Shaka hiring was almost as much of a shit show as well with most people expecting a lot more big name candidates and one that did not have such a unique system in place to recruit to (that he seems to have somewhat abandoned) and at least a couple of candidates giving a thanks, but no thanks don't call right from the start

with Perrin there were not as many big hires and the baseball search was again pretty tough, but it was a bit more clear why Texas was striking out (to use that term) and it was because places like Fullerton and others that often had proven coaches did not have them at that time and a lot of the big named coaches were secure where they were and of course did not want to change jobs for $100,000 more (or even $200,000 more) knowing full well that Perrin was gone sooner than later and that the expectations were massive at Texas plus who knows what fuck up Texas might hire for an AD.....I would imagine the Louisville coach at least might be regretting his decision....it could have easily turned into a 3 or 4 year job and then fired

it looks like CDC has put people on notice that if you take the Best Buy Gift Cards from Bohls and Chipper in exchange for info you better have your shit packed and be on the way out the door otherwise your shit is getting thrown out of the Bellmont windows down onto San Jacinto  

Edited by ButtFumble
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Tim Fouts started following the Texas softball account. He's the father of Montana Fouts the MaxPreps High School player of the year and '18 Bama signee. 

I have no clue if the Bama signees are on campus yet but these next few weeks might be interesting on the recruiting trail. 

http://www.maxpreps.com/news/-0QPklKX90217MKyStGAWw/2018-maxpreps-national-high-school-softball-player-of-the-year--montana-fouts.htm

https://rolltide.com/news/2018/6/21/alabama-softball-signee-montana-fouts-earns-pair-of-national-player-of-the-year-awards.aspx#.WywGWddrteg.twitter

Edited by texasstrong12
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Pitching wise, White has a good ace in Bollinger to start with. Romero, Adams and O’Leary are blank canvasses for him to work with. 

His frosh pitcher this year was good. She may join him is the rumor (Balint - 7-1 with a 2.10 ERA). 

Offensively, Ellsworth, Washington, Adams and Hathaway is a good 1/3 of your lineup. If he can get 1-2 transfers in there, look out. 

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The fact that Clark didn't bother to do ANYTHING with Chloe Romero (#20 recruit) outside of a measly 16 innings of work her freshman year was criminal. This was a coach who cared more about her job and riding PVS, Erica and Brooke to another contract than actually developing her student athletes. Romero was supposed to be the next big-time pitcher and Clark didn't develop her at all.  This may be a blessing in disguise, as she has basically no meaningful collegiate coaching and should be an absolute sponge for what White teaches.

Chloe Romero - 4 time Max-Preps HS All-American

Senior year (2017) - 0.64 ERA, 278 K in 99 innings, 8 no-hitters, 3 perfect games; oh yeah, she also hit .656 with 9 HR
Junior year (2016) - 0.92 ERA, 237 K in 129 innings; hit .645

White also has O'Leary coming in, also from California (#14 recruit). 

If there's no transfer, I'd expect really big years from Bollinger, Romero and O'Leary. And we need another bat in the lineup, Romero should definitely hit.

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Good news is, that there are several decent bats still available on the transfer scene.

 

Whomever asked about Montana Fouts....that is not going to happen. She is a 2018 grad, so she has already signed her LOI and financial agreement paperwork with Alabama. The only way she ends up here, is if she is willing to sit the entire season and start next year.

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4 minutes ago, FloridaHorn said:

Good news is, that there are several decent bats still available on the transfer scene.

 

Whomever asked about Montana Fouts....that is not going to happen. She is a 2018 grad, so she has already signed her LOI and financial agreement paperwork with Alabama. The only way she ends up here, is if she is willing to sit the entire season and start next year.

This. Montana Fouts ain't happening.

The only 2018 kids we COULD possibly get are any Oregon commits who want out of their NLI.  They had 5 top 100 kids, including 2 in the top 11.

But I'd rather pick up a bat in the transfer market.

What we have coming in, besides O'Learly, isn't that impressive in 2019.  But 2020 is supposed to be a good class if White can keep it.

2019 - #37 overall - #82, 109
2020 - #14 overall - #2, 27, 140, 150

White himself should reach out to his 2019 (#35, 39, 95, 106, 136) and 2020 (#21, 23, 26, 59) quickly, and as soon as he can, to get them on board.

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11 hours ago, Trent Whaley said:

Absolutely. The most exciting thing is the actions matching the words when it comes to winning. Especially when it comes to ponying up the money that it takes to win. Texas has always annoyed me with always saying that they wanted to be great but would never spend the money needed to do it, facilitates in particular. Rich people are usually cheap, but Texas was on another level when it comes to being cheap.

This is actually why Mike left Oregon.

Oregon re-upped him in 2015 at $237k per year. This guy has gone to the WCWS (final 8 teams) 5 times in 9 seasons, the final 16 every single year, never lost a regional game (27-0), and two trips to the national semifinals (final 4).  And 5 Pac-12 titles.

Meanwhile, they keep giving George Horton half a million to miss the postseason.

There's only been 2-3 coaches who have performed at the level White has. He was not being paid like a top 3 coach. A new stadium does not solve all problems.

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8 minutes ago, perfectchaos007 said:

Wonder when we'll get a look at his contract.

First off, do we even have a time for the PC?

Secondly, shouldn't take too long. I would imagine the BoR will meet soon enough to give final approval for Floreal and White's contracts. Usually when the media gets a copy of them.

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"I asked Mike White why he wanted to come to Texas, and he said it's because I can win a national championship at Texas."

"I think the opportunity at Texas is second to none. I'm going to pour my heart and soul into this program. I'm a winner, and I've come here to win."

Mike knows what we have been saying FOREVER! Texas is a sleeping giant. Fan base, money, fertile recruiting grounds, university and academic prestige, facilities. All the things Texas needed to be a contender, just had the wrong person in charge.

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9 minutes ago, Js1 said:

"I asked Mike White why he wanted to come to Texas, and he said it's because I can win a national championship at Texas."

"I think the opportunity at Texas is second to none. I'm going to pour my heart and soul into this program. I'm a winner, and I've come here to win."

Mike knows what we have been saying FOREVER! Texas is a sleeping giant. Fan base, money, fertile recruiting grounds, university and academic prestige, facilities. All the things Texas needed to be a contender, just had the wrong person in charge.

And it's all so glaringly obvious, for years, to everybody except the relevant decision makers - until CDC.

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White: "We'll start straight away. Every day is about recruiting."

This is a guy who isn't going to sit back and let recruits just verbal somewhere and do nothing about it.  He will fight every program for those recruits, starting today. Unlike Connie and her lady-man agreement not to recruit anyone who has already given a verbal.

When asked about the national title timeframe, White says he'd like to see within a 5-year timeframe, if he had to put a time on it.

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6 minutes ago, Js1 said:

White: "We'll start straight away. Every day is about recruiting."

This is a guy who isn't going to sit back and let recruits just verbal somewhere and do nothing about it.  He will fight every program for those recruits, starting today. Unlike Connie and her lady-man agreement not to recruit anyone who has already given a verbal.

When asked about the national title timeframe, White says he'd like to see within a 5-year timeframe, if he had to put a time on it.

In other words, Connie Clark definitely did NOT set a foundation worth a damn. We already knew that, and I feel bad for Mike having to say she did set a foundation in his presser. Probably grinding his teeth while saying it

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2 minutes ago, perfectchaos007 said:

In other words, Connie Clark definitely did NOT set a foundation worth a damn. We already knew that, and I feel bad for Mike having to say she did set a foundation in his presser. Probably grinding his teeth while saying it

5 year timeframe for a national title is not out of the realm of possibility. The talent is there, with a little reinforcement, to make a super regional quickly. In fact, if he adds in 1-2 transfer bats and a pitcher (Show, or Balint coming over from UO), this team next year is a darkhorse OKC team.

That 2020 class, which is already good if most of them stick around and even better if Mike can add some top-tier recruits he already had his eye on, to be the foundation to that national title.

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24 minutes ago, perfectchaos007 said:

In other words, Connie Clark definitely did NOT set a foundation worth a damn. We already knew that, and I feel bad for Mike having to say she did set a foundation in his presser. Probably grinding his teeth while saying it

Oh, Connie laid the foundation for us to win a championship, alright......If she sucked any less, White wouldn't be our coach. That's the only foundation she laid.

 

Mike White will begin reaching out to all 2019's today. My guess is that he will take a very large class next year...and will weed out some of the current players. The next 12 months will piss off a lot of parents, but are necessary to move this program forward. The great news is, White will recruit all over the nation, and Texas is a nationally known brand.

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Any guesses on who you think will get weeded out? Also, its a message board, so suck my ass if you're a parent of one of these players. I can speculate all I want.

First off, do we have money/room for a transfer? We had 4 departures (Clark, PVS, Wright and Leahy to graduation). We are bringing in 2. That gives us at least some money for 2 players?

Gone after 2019 - Schick, Hathaway (*potential medical shirt), Hayter, Alcozer, Bollinger

2019 juniors - Slack, Schattle, Ellsworth, DeMargosian, Washington

2019 sophomores - Romero, Adams, Jefferson, Tedder

2019 freshman - O'Leary, McKenzie Parker

Most rosters in college softball are 15-19 players (12 scholarships to allocate as you wish).  We'd be at 12 before the signing class, which is 2 currently. Potentially losing 4 (or 5 if Hathaway doesn't take a medical RS) means we can add quite a few more players in 2019 or via transfer.  Could see White taking 4-6 players in 2019.  He will also have room for potentially 5-7 in the 2020 class with the big class of 2020 graduating.

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Oh shit, he went there.

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Mike White: “The home run numbers weren’t high. The stolen base numbers weren’t high. The pitching was good. Right now, it’s just evaluating what you see on paper, what you see in the weight room ... It doesn’t mean anything until you get on the field.”

 

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Without naming names, typically you will see a few upper classmen leave. They are simply not willing to adjust to a new personality and way of doing business. I think White runs the roster size up to 20-24 players by the time the 2019's arrive on campus. Squeezing playing time is the easiest way to gently push kids aside, and larger rosters create a competitive environment. Look at the model that Coach Myers had at Auburn. He inherited a very similar roster to what White is getting. He had a recruit follow him from ASU, and he brought in a couple of transfers. The following year, he took 8-9 kids, and swelled his roster size to somewhere in the mid 20's. He then weeded out the weak, and unwilling, until he had a team of his players. It only took him two years to get that group to OKC, and they were dreadful before his arrival.

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https://texassports.com/news/2018/6/26/softball-video-mike-white-introductory-press-conference.aspx?path=softball

CDC said everyone he reached out to (coaches, former players) said Mike White

White's sister-in-law and mother-in-law live in Austin.

His cell phone already blowing up with assistants who want to come here

"Any player that wants to come, we want to see their resume." - regarding any Oregon players wanting to come

Specifically mentioned bringing in some help for the roster

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I have a huge man crush on this dude already.

Quote

Kirk Bohls‏Verified account @kbohls 32m32 minutes ago
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New Texas softball coach Mike White impressive. He told me he thought Oregon thought he was bluffing. "They didn't understand Texas," he said. "They didn't understand the pull of Texas."

 

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6 hours ago, FloridaHorn said:

Good news is, that there are several decent bats still available on the transfer scene.

 

Whomever asked about Montana Fouts....that is not going to happen. She is a 2018 grad, so she has already signed her LOI and financial agreement paperwork with Alabama. The only way she ends up here, is if she is willing to sit the entire season and start next year.

Explain this to me. If there’s no sitting out for transfers, why couldn’t a 2018 recruit just transfer with zero hours, or with summer school hours, same as any other athlete?  Would a school not be willing to grant it?  Transfers happen all the time in smaller sports don’t they?

are you just saying that bama will refuse to let her go?  

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She would need to get a full release from Alabama and assume that Texas had a similar aid package to offer her. Very unlikely, that a kid who decided not to commit to Mike White in the first place, would suddenly ask Pat Murphy for a release so she could play for Mike White now. And as unlikely as that is, it is even more unlikely that Bama would grant a full release at this point, when they are desperate for pitching as well.

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3 minutes ago, Pato del Muerto said:

Explain this to me. If there’s no sitting out for transfers, why couldn’t a 2018 recruit just transfer with zero hours, or with summer school hours, same as any other athlete?  Would a school not be willing to grant it?  Transfers happen all the time in smaller sports don’t they?

are you just saying that bama will refuse to let her go?  

Bama has no incentive to just let her out of her NLI.  Plus the new transfer rules don't actually take effect until October 2018.  She'd have to be a mid-season enrollee at best.

And let's be real, the no-sitting out thing has been going on in NCAA softball for a long time.  Bollinger did not sit out.  Von Sprecken didn't sit out. Gortarez didn't sit out at ASU.   Same with Shelby Pendley and Kelsey Stevens at OU.

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Interdasting

Quote

Texas softball coach Mike White won’t rule out hiring a pitching coach but said he’d prefer to initially focus on that aspect. Said recruiting is weakness for him so that could be a quality he’d prefer in a new hire. Would like to bring Oregon assistant Chelsea Spencer. #HookEm

The proposed "third full-time assistant" is being voted on for the 2020 season. So I guess until then, he's really looking for a hitting coach/recruiting coordinator, Spencer would handle the defense like she did at Oregon and MW would handle pitches. 

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12 minutes ago, Tony Soprano said:

Seeing us hire a bigtime coach so easily just makes you more mad at Plonsky and how she screwed the fans over. All to protect her buddy. Sad that this kind of stuff was allowed at UT for so long, and in so many sports. White will come in here and make us what we should have been all along. This is Texas.

Yep. Initial reactions from OU seem to go from "wow, that's impressive" to "fuck, we can't cakewalk through this conference anymore, Texas is going to be the real deal again."  Aggys are distraught, they know Mike is going to absolutely rat-fuck them in recruiting the elite Texas prospects that A&M has been gobbling up behind Clark's back and Jo Evans is turning into Clark 2.0 over there.  Doesn't develop players, too many transfers, failing to get to WCWS or going and doing nothing.

Nothing from Baylor fans, but they were probably the biggest benefit of Clark staying too long. 

Edited by Js1
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