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2018 Texas Softball


texasstrong12

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5 hours ago, texashorn13 said:

Anyone see the interview they did with him where they asked him specifically about the Texas job?

 

What did he say???  

DId not know Gasso gets a "STAY" Bonus. Never knew that was a thing. Her stay bonus is more $ than most DI head coaches' salary. 🤔

http://www.normantranscript.com/sports/all_ou_sports/ou-softball-recognized-gasso-gets-raise-lombardi-named-nation-s/article_ad281b01-23e0-5a61-97c0-725c8f7686cd.html

Her stay bonus, which is given annually for each year she remains at OU, is increasing from $25,000 to $200,000. Gasso has been at Oklahoma since 1995, winning national championshipis in 2000, 2013, 2016 and 2017.

The stay bonus brings Gasso's annual salary to $950,000, the highest in college softball, underscoring the school's commitment to the program. 
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Dunno who will win the title but it won’t be OU. 

What a weird WCWS run:

Shutout Thursday by UW

Win back to back 2-0 games on Sat 

Shut out again on Sunday 

OU was a 7 run/game team and managed a single run/game in OKC. 

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OU graduates A LOT but does return the NCAA HR leader for 2018. 5 seniors including both main pitchers, C, SS and OF    

OU 1-17 with RISP in OKC. Woof 

oh and first finals series without Florida or OU since 2010. Finally. 

Edited by Js1
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Inouye-Perez...

I hope we don’t even call her. She’s an awful in game coach. Going with your starter an hour after she threw 111 pitches in the OKC heat, pulling her in the 2nd, and then putting her back in after 2 batters 

FSU up 4-0 already in the 2nd in a winner to the champ series. And the ace comes out again after 2 batters. Is Connie managing the UCLA rotation?

Edited by Js1
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I hope we call Loni Alameda. She’s the anti-Mike White. Her teams tend to perform with their backs against the wall. 5-0 in postseason elimination games and up 4-0 in her bid to be the first ACC team to appear in the finals 

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21 hours ago, texasstrong12 said:

Not much of a denial here. Maybe he's posturing for more money. 

 

Pretty standard non-denial/coach speak. A lot of people have said "I have a great job" before they bolted.

Kirk (*spit*) says our search is going to be looking east, not west. So I hope that means Walton, Murphy, Lawson.

I still say Walton should be the first call, offer up the cash, see what happens.  We won't offer $950,000/year off the bat. We should consider offering up $500,000/year + massive incentives. He can work his way up to $950,000+/year just by doing what he's doing at Florida and doing it at Texas instead. Winning the conference, making a super, top 8 seed, making OKC = incrementally raising his salary. And offer up those upgrades to McCombs.

If he says thanks but no thanks, call #2 should be Lawson.  I'm staying on this bandwagon, I love what she's done and how her girls play for her. Give her a bigger recruiting platform and a conference where she doesn't have to play A&M/LSU/Alabama/Georgia/Florida week in and week out.

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500K won't get it done with Walton. If CDC thinks he is the guy, then he should pay him and get it over with. I think the offer is 650K salary, 100K to win the Big XII, 100K to host a super, 150K for winning the WCWS. That gets him a smooth million for a NC. The first time he wins the Big XII, you take out that incentive and just give him the 100K raise.

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3 minutes ago, FloridaHorn said:

500K won't get it done with Walton. If CDC thinks he is the guy, then he should pay him and get it over with. I think the offer is 650K salary, 100K to win the Big XII, 100K to host a super, 150K for winning the WCWS. That gets him a smooth million for a NC. The first time he wins the Big XII, you take out that incentive and just give him the 100K raise.

Well $150,000 at Texas is chump change and with CDC's ability to raise money, I say $650k is do-able.

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3 hours ago, texashorn13 said:

Lonnie Alameda is making a strong case for getting a phone call.

Absolutely call her, whether she wins the title or not. She's got her team in as the first ACC representative in the finals ever.  Has made the postseason ever year; 6 consecutive supers; 3rd WCWS trip in 10 years and has improved their finish each and every time - 2 and Q -> semifinals -> finals appearance.

Her teams play really well with good pitching and good hitting. She's an excellent recruiter. She took her stud freshman out of OU's backyard - the one that has hit 2 HR in the WCWS. She has the Texas Gatorade POY headed to Tallahassee.  Some of her best is homegrown/nearby talent she's taking from Georgia/Florida/Alabama/Auburn: Jess Burrows was from GA, Jess Warren is from FL, Meghan King is from FL, Maddie O'Brien was from FL; but she can also go get them when she needs to - Klaevmann is from Texas; Sherill is from Oklahoma; Waldrop was from Virginia.  She's got the #5 player in Flo Softball's Top 100 coming in from Texas.

Edited by Js1
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5 minutes ago, Kel Varnsen said:

Might be tough to get her to leave if they win the Championship. Would be better for us if they lose...

Why? Her stock won't ever be higher.

Last year she was making $205,000. I don't know her incentives, but she can potentially double it (or more).  FSU only took in $109 million. Texas took in $188 million.  We can afford to take her. 

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I guess conceivably, if something isn't announced by tomorrow, we're waiting to talk to Alameda.  I wouldn't expect an announcement until next week at the earliest regardless, what with baseball now hosting super regionals this weekend.

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Not worse, but not the answer either. Walton is having exit interviews with his players today. If a meeting with Texas were to happen, it would likely occur before the end of the week. If Walton turns down the job, then we can all debate who the next tier of candidates would be. For me personally, Lonnie would be in the top 10, but not my top 5. Unfortunately for Texas, the guy who I think is one of the top coaches in the country is in the process of building a program at Clemson. Rittman would have been an ideal candidate for the job.

Top 5 for me would be...

1. Tim Walton - easily the best coach available to Texas

2. Mike White - Oregon coach is a master with pitchers

3. Glenn Moore - Baylor coach would hit the ground running with Texas talent.

4. Pat Murphy - Alabama coach has had a strong run at Bama, and almost left them a few years ago for LSU

5. Heather Tarr - Probably my actual number 2, but I don't think she is leaving Washington for any other job.

The next group includes Lonnie, Trish Ford (ASU), Kenny G (OKState), KIP (UCLA), Deifel (Arkansas), Angel Santiago (Nichols State), Jimmy Kolaitis (Oregon Asst.)

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KIP and Tarr are both at the programs they played for. Really hard to pull a coach from their alma mater "dream jobs."

White is actually interesting in that he doesn't have a natural talent base to choose from at Oregon, so being able to recruit from within Texas and strategically pull from his PNW/California connections would make him a good hire.  His teams, though, tend to fold in OKC.

Walton, Murphy are high on my list. Still think you add Lonnie and Lawson to the list. Ford and Diefel may not want to leave somewhere they are currently building.

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This is so very reminiscent of the baseball coach search 2 years ago.     High profile names mentioned and queried by the media (Walton) which some parlayed into a better contract/facility (O'Sullivan/Casey/Holliday/Tadlock).   Difference is we have an AD,  question is who has his ear regarding recommendations.

Would be nice to have any of the aforementioned names, but is it realistic ?   I tend to think it is more than money,  right or wrong.  Coaches in established, successful programs very seldom leave.   Though upgrades are planned,   most of the coaches above likely have an office larger than our team locker room.   Not familiar with all sports,  but for most Texas has required experience as a head coach - will that change for softball with a respected, experienced assistant  ?

Looking at her bio,  Alameda does have Texas ties.  One of her assistants,  Craig Snider,  coached at SFA and his wife is from Texas.    Which brings up another subject,  assistants are so crucial to success.    Walton played baseball at OU and his top assistant, Rocha,  is an OU grad.     So there's that !

Walton or Alameda would be great,  we will see if it is realistic.

 

An all-around great athlete, Alameda began her collegiate career as a pitcher at St. Mary’s University (San Antonio, Texas) where she led the Rattlers to the NAIA Tournament in her only season. She later transferred to Oklahoma in 1989 and played softball and volleyball for the Sooners. She was a two-time All-Big Eight selection as a first and third baseman, while hitting .359 as a senior in 1992.

Alameda earned her bachelor’s degree in communications from Oklahoma in 1993 and played softball professionally in Europe for a season before beginning her coaching career

 

http://seminoles.com/staff/lonni-alameda/

 

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What a WCWS for FSU. Pitcher King was CLUTCH only allowing 1 ER the whole time at OKC. Against stiff competition. Would kill for this kind of coaching in Austin. 

Amazing to see a team come out of the loser’s bracket and tear apart the well rested 3-0 team in a sweep of the champ series. 

6 elimination games in 2 weeks. Title winners. First for the ACC. 

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1 hour ago, Js1 said:

What a WCWS for FSU. Pitcher King was CLUTCH only allowing 1 ER the whole time at OKC. Against stiff competition. Would kill for this kind of coaching in Austin. 

Amazing to see a team come out of the loser’s bracket and tear apart the well rested 3-0 team in a sweep of the champ series. 

6 elimination games in 2 weeks. Title winners. First for the ACC. 

This.  FSU's pitcher was badass.....the team just played lights out.  

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As soon as the WCWS ended, Texas drops the posting: https://ncaamarket.ncaa.org/jobs/11127391/head-coach-softball-university-of-texas

Extensive experience coaching NCAA championship-caliber student-athletes with preferred coaching experience at NCAA and Conference Championships. Prior coaching experience with competitors on national teams, international or Olympic level competition.”

 

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16 hours ago, FloridaHorn said:

Not worse, but not the answer either. Walton is having exit interviews with his players today. If a meeting with Texas were to happen, it would likely occur before the end of the week. If Walton turns down the job, then we can all debate who the next tier of candidates would be. For me personally, Lonnie would be in the top 10, but not my top 5. Unfortunately for Texas, the guy who I think is one of the top coaches in the country is in the process of building a program at Clemson. Rittman would have been an ideal candidate for the job.

Top 5 for me would be...

1. Tim Walton - easily the best coach available to Texas

2. Mike White - Oregon coach is a master with pitchers

3. Glenn Moore - Baylor coach would hit the ground running with Texas talent.

4. Pat Murphy - Alabama coach has had a strong run at Bama, and almost left them a few years ago for LSU

5. Heather Tarr - Probably my actual number 2, but I don't think she is leaving Washington for any other job.

The next group includes Lonnie, Trish Ford (ASU), Kenny G (OKState), KIP (UCLA), Deifel (Arkansas), Angel Santiago (Nichols State), Jimmy Kolaitis (Oregon Asst.)

That's a really good list, and Texas should shake the trees on all of them.  However, realistically, only 3 of the 11 you listed would leave their current situation.  For many reasons, Texas is really not a top job right now.  It's not a situation where a new coach will walk in and win immediately.  Facilities are severely lacking, and because of the recruiting landscape for the past several years and how poorly Texas has recruited, from that standpoint Texas is really behind the 8-ball so to speak.  Frankly, this is a total rebuild, which is why I think looking at some of the top assistants is the correct way to go.  Proven recruiters from proven programs who are ready to step in and make a program their own.  I still think Jimmy Kolaitis and Craig Snider should be at the top of the list, after making Walton say no, of course.

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I can't remember the exact rule but I think it's a 10 working day posting period before we can officially make a hire?  So we'd know something within about 2 weeks if CDC is just ironing out details, potentially.

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1 hour ago, texashorn13 said:

That's a really good list, and Texas should shake the trees on all of them.  However, realistically, only 3 of the 11 you listed would leave their current situation.  For many reasons, Texas is really not a top job right now.  It's not a situation where a new coach will walk in and win immediately.  Facilities are severely lacking, and because of the recruiting landscape for the past several years and how poorly Texas has recruited, from that standpoint Texas is really behind the 8-ball so to speak.  Frankly, this is a total rebuild, which is why I think looking at some of the top assistants is the correct way to go.  Proven recruiters from proven programs who are ready to step in and make a program their own.  I still think Jimmy Kolaitis and Craig Snider should be at the top of the list, after making Walton say no, of course.

You are completely correct about most of these coaches not leaving their current situations. I don't think Tarr, Lonnie, Ford or Deifel will leave their schools for Texas. However, Walton will have a rebuild on his hands next year at Florida as well. Barnhill faded and seemed to tire at the end of the season, and Ocasio is gone as the #2. He also loses a lot of offensive production from a team that had trouble scoring runs, and returns a group of freshmen that didn't exactly set the world on fire, except for Adams and Mathews. They have some talented kids in the dugout, but they are mostly unproven. Like you, I am a big big fan of Kolaitis, and he is an excellent recruiter, but I agree that we HAVE to kick the tires on the Walton situation prior to speaking to anyone else.

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I didn't include Alameda in that group of 3, but she's an interesting one to watch.  While I can't see it happening because of how ingrained in the FSU community she and her staff are, I know there are some frustrations on her part as well (avg. pay for her and her assistants, lack of quality of ACC, etc.).  For sure FSU is going to have to open up the checkbook, especially for the assistants.  Also winning the Natty and then bailing would be a bold statement.

Now that Louisville is open I don't think it's out of the realm of possibility that Snider could go there...he is from Kentucky and his familiarity with the ACC has to make him a top candidate there I would think.

Tarr - Played at UW, won't be leaving there ever.

White - Loves Oregon because the climate is a perfect match to New Zealand...it literally feels like home for him.

Moore - Baylor is in a better spot than Texas right now, they love him there, and will pay big $ to keep him.  Same type of stuff Patterson gets at TCU...not actual salary but lots if incentives and off the books stuff.

Murphy - very underwhelming in my opinion and I hope we don't even kick those tires.  I also think the shenanigans he pulled with LSU will keep potential employers at bay.

KIP - UCLA born and bred, best friends with Fernandez...same as Tarr, not leaving.

Ford - A PAC coach isn't leaving a PAC school, especially when that conference is on the rise.  Also a west coaster.

Deifel - I think she's at her dream job, or close to it.  She just made Supers with a very young team, Arkansas has facilities and money, and it's SEC SEC of course.

Kenny G - Oklahoma boy at an Oklahoma school where they are having success.  I think Oklahoma is the only place he'd leave for...or maybe back to Florida if Walton is the choice at Texas.

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FSU plays in the ACC, which isn't much more than a mid-major when it comes to softball.  The money isn't there, the interest isn't really there, its FSU and....a bunch of teams you'd think would be good (ND, Louisville, UNC, VT who hasn't been good since Tincher, who are average, everyone else sucks and Duke/Clemson are just getting started).  I won't act like the Big 12 is much better, but it does have OU (12 WCWS appearances + 4 national championships), Baylor (4 appearances), OK State (7 appearances) Texas (5 appearances) and Kansas (1 appearance). I think the ACC is just FSU (10).

I highly doubt Moore and Kenny G are on the list. Just from the fact that our attempts at stealing coaches out of our own conference have been giant miserable failures lately (trying to get Sherri Coale for WBB; Tadlock and Schloss for baseball).  Tarr/KIP are off the table because they are at their alma maters.

If Patrick Murphy's 14 straight supers, 11 WCWS trips and 1 national championship is underwhelming.... fuck. Not a lot of coaches are going to stack up to that high standard you have.  Takes a lot of luck to win the title - OU might have been the best team this year, considering they returned everyone from a NC winning club and added a 30-home run hitting freshman and they couldn't even get it done this year.  How many years was Oregon THE top team of the regular season and couldn't even make the finals?  CPM averages 52-53 wins/year, consistently.  You know, as a coach, Connie has had 3 50-win season (02, 06, 13). Murphy has had 11 of them - including 3 of them with 60+ wins and a string of 8 consecutive 50+ win seasons.

Edited by Js1
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Very disappointed,  but not surprised about Walton.

Same situation as O'Sullivan including facility upgrades.      UF should at least thank Texas with a plaque with a Longhorn logo in the new facilities.

Excerpts:

The University Athletic Association announced Wednesday that Walton, winner of seven Southeastern Conference championships and two NCAA titles, has agreed to a 10-year contract extension that ties him to the Gators through the 2028 season. UF's latest trip to the WCWS was the ninth in the last 11 seasons under Walton, who came to UF in 2006, by way of Wichita State, and has built one of the most dominant programs in the sport

Work is scheduled to begin on Walton's home-away-from-home — Katie Seashole Pressly Stadium — next week when wrecking balls and bulldozers head to the UF softball complex to start work on an $11 million renovation project. When completed next spring (in time for the 2019 season), the Gators will have a sparkling new, first-class facility that Walton, his players and fans will enjoy for what both parties now agree will be a long, long time.

https://floridagators.com/news/2018/6/6/chris-harry-walton-gets-10-year-contract-extension.aspx

 

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I do not think it's a coincidence our job posting went up last night and UF announced the extension this morning.  I think CDC has his coach and is ironing out the details.

Please God, don't be a lazy hire like just importing Woodard and Cat from Texas State.

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38 minutes ago, Js1 said:

I do not think it's a coincidence our job posting went up last night and UF announced the extension this morning.  I think CDC has his coach and is ironing out the details.

Please God, don't be a lazy hire like just importing Woodard and Cat from Texas State.

It would be really surprising for CDC to make that move.

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