Jason Beverlin is a relative newcomer to coaching baseball, but he's no stranger to the man who hired him as Tennessee's new pitching coach.
"I've known Jason for 17 years,'' UT coach Todd Raleigh said in a release Tuesday.
"I'm extremely comfortable with his vision and his philosophy.''
Beverlin has coached two seasons at Georgia Southern, following a lengthy playing career that included a season in the major leagues and three years in Japan.
He replaces Fred Corral, who was let go by Raleigh after two seasons.
Raleigh and Beverlin date their friendship back to Western Carolina University, where Raleigh was beginning a coaching career while Beverlin was a standout pitcher.
Beverlin's pitching days ended in 2007, at which point he joined the staff at Georgia Southern.
"It's incredible what he's done at Georgia Southern in such a short period of time,'' Raleigh said. "He brings a wealth of enthusiasm to our program.
"His involvement with professional baseball and college baseball during the past 15 years has really prepared him.''
Beverlin takes over a staff that ranked 11th in the SEC in ERA at 6.24, and 10th in batting average allowed, .290.
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Comments » 32
RoadTrip writes:
And we are supposed to care? You haven't proven you deserve to be where you are yet, much less bring somebody else in you like to the mess you created.
chrisw2967 writes:
hammy still hasnt fired this clown ?
TomMorello writes:
Western Carolina brings in an ole' boy from Western Carolina. Like I said earlier, we need to go after UNC's pitching coach Forbers. Bring in someone that has played with the big boys consistently.
makessense writes:
What makes you a expert on where people deserve to be.
Ive been reading peoples commits on CTR for a while now and can't understand why everyone hates him or doesnt give him the benefit of doubt ( you know what i mean ) First of all its not his falt that hamilton fired Delmonico and second is im sure hes doing the best he can whith what he had when he got there and the restrictions he was faced with. Whats the man going to do turn down a dream job because he doesnt think he's ready. If thats the case its not his falt its hamiltons so give him a break .
Give him 2 more years and if he's not produced anything he'll make his own way out of here. Id like to see you get a chance to work in front of about 30,000 people
who dont know a thing about your occupation which is what is going on here. Most everyone lending there thoughts to the subject dont know a thing about coaching, playing, or recruting college baseball which is by far the hardest of all college sports as far as recruting. Let things play out. Hes here to stay so get behind him or dont go watch them play ( oh you probably dont anyway ). Makes sense now dosent it.
easttnvol21 writes:
Comfortable????--Translated this means----I decided to hire someone who will sit in the corner of the dugout and say nothing so I can go ahead and make all the decisions anyway. This program has become a joke----this is as transparent as it can possibly be. Sure, let's go hire someone who played for him at Western. Do you think this young man will do anything other than go along with Raleigh?? Do you think he will be allowed to make decisions?? Call pitches?? I think not. Coach you know what I mean has no intention of hiring anyone who can think for himself----which means we'll have more of the same.
NoMoreWooAfterGoodOleRockyTop writes:
I am not "comfortable" losing to ETSU, USC Upstate (whoever that is), Austin Peay, App State, and Coastal Carolina. Booooooo!
bugman (Inactive) writes:
it's baseball. it's irrelevant anyway. baseball is soooo 1900's.
MikeInTN writes:
This program is a train wreck, but really, who cares!!!!!!!
OrangePride writes:
This hire, VOL nation, comes under the heading of, "it better work!" When you hire a no-name who is also one of your friends then you better understand that you have set yourself up for a heap of sorrow if that situation bombs. Frankly, the Vols had such a pitiful year it will not take a great effort to improve on it. CR must know he will not be here another season if we don't make the SEC tournament or have a bottom-half finish in the SEC again so we will have to wait and see where this goes. It's going to be uphill because between the people CR has run off or who just left the program, the talent barn is almost totally empty of quality horses. So just where this big "turn around season" is going to come from beats me. It sure ain't comin from CR........we already know that!
tn_hunt_man#338528 writes:
I care. I've been a season ticket holder for over 16yrs now and still attend every home game. I'm very upset over the fact that our Skipper won't ask for help for the sake of the Fans, School and his players. He tries to do it all and at some point he has got to learn that's why he has a coaching staff. Fred was a master at his job but his hands were tied. I guess Todd didn't want Fred to get to much credit cause he would have been FIRED and the Job would have been given to Fred. The boys would play better under a leader and not a dictator. There has to be a balance. Todd has no sense of balance except trying to keep tipping the scale in his favor with friends as a coaching staff. The local High School coaches have a hard time dealing with him. Lots of talent in the area and Todd and his coaches don't care. So yes I do Care. I'm tired of it. for Mike to give this guy a 3yr extention was fooish.. What in the Hell has he done to proven himself. Wake up and smell what's cooking UT. it ain't good and that's a fact Jack..
MikeInTN writes:
I like your passion hunt_man!! But...so far there has been only a couple of posters that say they care. Apathy is a killer!
GreerVol22 writes:
my undewear is comfortable, but I do change it when it starts to stink.
agentorange writes:
yup, this guy reminds me of buzz peterson. bring back delmonico. not sure why he was fired to start with. i was fine with making the CWS every now and then. now we just suck outloud.
OrangeMan_86 writes:
Lol at Todd Raleigh's son saying to give him two more years. He will be fired after next season. He sucks and Tennessee has set the baseball program back another 2-3 years by giving him another year. After his three seasons are up, that'll be about 6 years thrown in the trash. Todd Raleigh = ****.
Vol4ever_1 writes:
Mrs. Raleigh you are absolutely correct. No one should pass on a dream job. The fact that you husband is not ready is the administrations fault.
It takes four years to get a HS diploma. Maybe your man will figure it out. Thankfully the HC doesn't factor in the APR.
The current beef is that he let go of his most qualified coach on staff in CFC. Especially for PD which for those that know both simply translates in CFC doing it right and CTR doing it wrong. just read all the complaints about your guy.
Belittles athletes. (hopefully it is only an on filed thing)
Texts top recruits instead of calling them.
Bad relations with HS coaches and umpires.
Overmatched in simple interviews.
This is just in the last month.
Did he tell you how to spell "fault"?
Where's my "Raleigh towel"?
TrouserCough writes:
I don't mind giving him a chance and from what many say, he will get four years. The reason people are critical of him is he is a PR train wreck. Read his quotes and cringe. That combined with poor on field performance and you get negative comments from the lot that visits this site.
shoalcreekvol writes:
He's done nothing to unite the fan base or generate any interest in UT baseball. Nothing. Promoting the program, connecting with the fans and building a winning team are why he gets paid the big bucks, and he's striking out on all 3 in bad fashion.
Vol4ever_1 writes:
Give him your phone number and maybe he could "text" you for support. Appear to be his MO. He wanted Casteel so bad he text him like 10 times.
He doesn't know how to speak publically. Listen to the radio.
He even tells recycled jokes poorly.
fmkhbeach#223636 writes:
Where in the world has he worked in front of 30,000 people? At LSU?
Certainly not at Lindsey Nelson, where he's dwindled the crowd down to maybe 30, 23 of whom are canceling their long-time season tickets next year.
RoadTrip writes:
Played D-1 ball at first base under a college hall of fame coach back in the mid 70s. Played against Mike Schmidt in high school (among other future D 1's and pros). Lifelong Reds fan. Coached little league. Coached golf teams. Made all region first team in high school football as OL. Invited walk-on at UT as LB. Had D 1 and D 2 football scholarship offers - chose baseball instead.
That is what makes me an expert, at least expert enough to know lower level coaching when I see it. This is UT and the SEC, not Western Carolina. I have met MH and know he was trying to pull off a Pearl deal for baseball. It didn't work,
First, as CLK, CEO and CBP have openly stated - you build borders around the state/region as quickly as you can. Why go to another state/region to recruit kids that are "projects?" Recruit "projects" from the locals, and/or go to juco to fill needs.
Second, think about it. Why would a top 100-200 ballplayer come to UT when they can choose 20+ schools that have better programs in better climates for year round competition and conditioning? They will only do that if they have a strong motive to do so. We have an unproven coach and an unproven program at this point. There is no positive draw for a top recruit unless they are from the region or have family here. So you have to go with more "projects" and own the regional kids. That ain't happening by a long shot. They are heading in other directions because either CTR did not recruit them hard or at all; or they are in contact with the current team members who openly talk about the tension on the team on campus and in the press.
A bad hire, is a bad hire. I know this from having hired and managed over 300 people in my career. However, being a Vol fan I hope he can first turn himself around, then turn the team around. Kids today will not put out the extra effort for a coach they do not respect.
Cherokee writes:
"Comfortable" huh?
"Brokeback Bullpen"?
8^)
Cherokee writes:
"Comfortable" huh?
"Brokeback Bullpen"?
8^P
Cherokee writes:
Doh! Sorry for the double post!
Intheknow30 writes:
Okay, Lets see...
You are in fact not an expert. You are obviously quite far from it. No I do not blame Raleigh for taking the job. And I really dont blame Beverlin. This is the chance of a lifetime for him. And I suppose he could get lucky, do well (assuming I wont show up to BP one game and see Raleigh giving our Friday night starter a lesson on pitching mechanics), and get himself a job after Raleigh gets fired.
Im not sure what 30,000 is referring to. Maybe our combined total attendance this past season. Thomson-Boling doesnt even hold 30.
A good percentage of the people here are true fans, who if nothing else care about the University of Tennessee. As an outsider (you sound like some one who has never been to any sporting event in your life) it is not your place to judge.
So yes this is Hamiltons problem now after not listening to players, parents, and specifically ignoring a great kid(Horne .299/10/26), who even after being pushed too far and basically saying dealing with Raleigh wasnt worth playing a sport he loved in the best conference in America, telling him specifics in a sit down. But Raleigh is why we are in the position we are in. This episode should be over but Hamilton wants to see the third act.
TheBryceIsRight writes:
RaleighBall sucks. He is the Wade Houston.
RoadTrip writes:
Love your analogy - exactly right.
RoadTrip writes:
Title IX and APR. You bust up some of what is available into partials and give the wholes depending on how bad you want the recruit. That is why you recruit and own the local talent so they will come on a partial.
Baseball has a shot to offer more scholarships in the future if the NCAA will modify the regs on Title IX. UT is a place where it could become a money maker if that happened and they made the right hire. LSU averages over 9700 in attendance per home game. That will make them some money and make a strong program stronger.
We are missing out on all of this. When you have strong programs in other sports and the coaches all start supporting each other, everybody wins. That is happening in FB and hoops at UT - it needs to carry over to the others, especially baseball.
Success begets success...
DRAGtheWATERS writes:
if there is a sport that has local talent baseball is the one and raliegh cant even recruit knoxville hopefully he has only one year left i think they need some coaches in the local softball leagues he would get his axx kicked every night lol!
arkyvol writes:
two years ago when i read about raleigh's fair to middling career in the college version of the bush league, i was wondering what the hell hambone saw in him. two years later and i'm still wondering. is this his way of letting us know that the only sports worth his best efforts are football and basketball?
thewalloffame#333843 writes:
How many games have you seen him coach.You should get a clue. Raleigh is an idiot.
thewalloffame#333843 writes:
Must be a soccer fan!!!!!!!!!!
or maybe Nascar.
ellerbee123 writes:
Does anyone know anything about Ryan Casteel, the recruit from Cleveland that signed with UT that was "going pro" but didn't get recruited in the draft so is going to Cleveland State. Seems they (the pro teams) could not come up with the over $1 million he wanted as a signing bonus so he didn't go with any of them. Am I stupid or aren't you recruited BEFORE you can even be considered for a signing bonus. Otherwise, he would be considered a "free agent". He was not even drafted so how could he have been turned down because he wanted too much money. I am pretty sure I am right on this one. I think he is just blowing off at the mouth because he is so embarrassed that no one wanted him.
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