Tennessee's baseball team began fall practices last Sunday for what could be a pivotal 2010 season under third-year coach Todd Raleigh.
The Vols posted almost identical records in Raleigh's first two seasons, going 27-29 in 2008 and 26-29 this past spring. In SEC games, the Vols were 12-18 in 2008 and 11-19 this past spring and missed making the SEC tournament both seasons.
If Raleigh is on the hot seat this coming season, nobody has told him.
"I want to get this thing right, and I feel like we have gotten it right," Raleigh said. "I wish there was other ways of doing it other than just taking time, but there's not.
"There's so many things we've had to deal with here, but to see how we're progressing academically to on the field, and having the kind players we have, I feel good about it."
Raleigh said UT athletic director Mike Hamilton has not talked with him about a win-or-you're-out situation.
He said the team's RPI jumped 50 spots from the 2008 season to after 2009, thanks in large part to a difficult schedule.
"I don't see how you can say we're not getting better," he said. "We have nobody ineligible. The kids are doing the right things. The draft prospects are going up, recruiting classes are getting better. We have an All-SEC player with (shortstop) Zach Osborne as a freshman. We brought in four freshmen who were drafted and kept them. That doesn't happen (often).
"Cody Hawn, we're getting kids like that, keeping Bryan Morgado. Show me where we're not getting better. If you want me to go back, I'll start playing Carson-Newman eight times a year and I'll get 33 wins and everybody will be happy, but I'm not going to do that."
Morgado, a junior left-hander, was drafted in the third round of the draft in June by the Chicago White Sox, but opted to stay with the Vols. Morgado was recently rated the 13th-best college prospect for the 2010 MLB draft by Baseball America
Raleigh said he believes Morgado can be a first-round pick next summer.
"It was definitely a hard decision for me and my family (not signing)," Morgado said. "Getting drafted in the third round is kind of an honor. We were happy with that at that time but we felt in my case, as a family, we felt the best decision was for me to come back for my junior year, improve my stock, and have another shot at playing in the SEC tournament and going to a (NCAA) regional and doing great things here."
Three of the four UT signees drafted and not signed are pitchers Andy Hillis of Brentwood, Alan Walden of Chattanooga, and Jon Reed of Tulsa, Okla. The fourth UT freshman drafted is first baseman Cody Stubbs of Waynesville, N.C.
"I think it's one of the top recruiting classes in the country, so I'm excited about mixing them in with the returning players," Raleigh said.
UT pitcher Rob Catapano, former Farragut High School and North Carolina pitcher, sat out last season under NCAA transfer rules. Catapano pitched in the College World Series as a freshman and sophomore at North Carolina before transferring to UT.
"I think we've got a good chance to surprise a lot of people," Catapano said. "With the coaches and staff we've got, there's no reason we shouldn't be able to compete for an SEC championship, the NCAA Regionals, Super Regionals and then Omaha (for the CWS)."
Dave Link is a freelance contributor.
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Comments » 21
volcycle writes:
Wow... up for an hour and no comments. Have we given up on UT baseball?
DRAGtheWATERS writes:
"Show me where we're not getting better. If you want me to go back, I'll start playing Carson-Newman eight times a year and I'll get 33 wins and everybody will be happy, but I'm not going to do that."
Coach are you really going to call out CN lets take a look at your records the last two years against small Tennessee schools.
ETSU 0-4
T.TECH 1-1
LIPSCOMB 1-1
MTSU 3-1
AUSTIN PEAY 1-1
BELMONT 1-1
VANDY 3-3
I just hope we can beat USC Upstate this year.
Pullingguard writes:
Why would anyone have to tell him that he's on the hot seat... He should know that his W/L records, unless improved greatly this coming season, should afford him a ticket out of the UT program.
FWBVol writes:
Carson Newman is a DII school while the schools you mentioned are all D I programs, although except for Vandy, in less highly regarded D I conferences by many people.
I'm no Vanderbilt fan, but Vandy has had a fairly consistent baseball program the last several years and the Price kid that's now with Tampa might be the best pitcher to come through the SEC this decade.
pennydog writes:
Raleigh is not stupid. He knows he is on the hot seat. He lost alot of good players and I hope he has learned how to control his temper, especially in a Tennessee uniform. I am tired of seeing Tennessee miss the SEC finals, maybe this year will be different, we will have to wait and see.
DRAGtheWATERS writes:
I didnt mean small as per division I meant money allocated and size of the program. I just dont like this guy everytime he is interviewed he has to put someone down to make himself look better. I hope they do turn it around but he and his staff dont touch Vandy coaching abilities or even ETSU's staff based on records head to head. It would be nice to have some quality college baseball in KNOXVILLE to go along with the level of highschool baseball talent in our area.
GO VOLS!!!
Vol4ever_1 writes:
Coach CTR needs to watch what he says. You can go on Boyds world and look at former rpi's and know that his comments really are not validated. Really tired how he puts down the former staff who without, UT doesn't have any tradition. Shouldn't bring up CN because he isn't half the coach Griffin is. He is dumb to say those things.
He is trying really hard to keep up with Kiffin and Pearl and Summitt and the Weeklys. At least Kiffin picks fights with people he will eventually play.
Time to stock up on the toilet paper.
Where's my "Raleigh towel"?
CTR, it all makes sense if you have done anything. You have not and you couldn't hold the jock of the former staff or Tony skoles. Especially Tom Griffin who tops you in all things.
lovemykids3 writes:
Careful what you wish for Raleigh...CN has a winning record over UT since 1999, and in those years UT was actually good in baseball. Maybe you should have done your research. By the way, didn't Jeff Lockwood transfer to CN...I'm sure it's because he wanted to win. Raleigh pack your bags and save your money.
Hammastix writes:
Todd Raleigh is the laughing stock of his own players on his team, the donors that are paying for these new renovations that he didnt earn, and all of the coaches surrouding this area (High School and College)*For a fact*. He's need to be careful of running his mouth about Carson Newman, they have beat UT in the last 2 out of 3 meetings and worry about ETSU (Who he is 0-4 against and the worst team by far in the state). If he did schedule them (Carson Newman) 8 times he would end up with 29 wins and have his Third consecutive miserable season. The sad thing about this is, he has completly ruined this baseball program. O waiitt he has the APR up, congrats Toddy Ballgame thats what you should do. Dont worry, everything seems fine now, but just wait till they lose to some trash team, he pulls a midnight practice incorparated with an hour of mental beatdowns and all hell will break lose no doubt. The Definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.. Hmmm. Hopefully collectivly as a group they wont ALL hate his guts and quit on him like they did last year. ie (9 game SEC slide)He knew it! and he couldnt do anything about it!.. Its pretty bad when former players tell you all they would talk about in the Bullpen and the dugout is how they wish this year was over and they cant wait to get out of this place. Sad
Futurecoach16 writes:
Cite your sources. How do you know he's the "laughingstock" of all these people? Obviously he's doing something right when he continues getting top recruits and the players that Delmonico couldn't get. It's nice knowing that he has to worry about the commitments getting drafted rather than getting accepted to the school. I enjoy everything Raleigh has done with this team, but do hope to see more W's on the record. I wish I was still playing because I would love to play for the guy. As a side note, I played under Matt Sternberg, 3rd baseman on the 2001 team, and he consistently said how Delmonico was terrible.
Hammastix writes:
(This comment was removed by the site staff.)
baseballguy writes:
My son is one of the new players who had the chance to go pro instead of playing college baseball. He had letters and interest from most SEC schools and many other colleges. He chose UT because of Coach Raleigh and Coach LeCroy. I will tell you one thing important about both of these coaches - they want very badly to win and they will win. My son wanted to be in a program that was going to win lots of games during his time in college. No other coaches came across with the burning desire to be champions like Coach Raleigh and Coach LeCroy did. It is amazing how hard they are working the players and the players are excited because they are going to be winning a lot of games in the years to come. My son is happy to be at UT and is excited about the upcoming season.
John_Galt writes:
Why do you think a valid criticism of Todd Raleigh is a defense of Rod Delmonico?
No mater what Rod did before, Todd Raleigh was and still is unqualified for the UT job.
His one resume point was ALMOST beating North Carolina.
Now, Todd Raleigh and the Vols are only ALMOST terrible.
But as an aside to respond to your post...despite a very inconsistent program here are things Delmonico did beter....
(1) Like it or not, CRD did recruit better players
(2) CRD listened to his pitching coach and did not simply fire him due to a personality conflict.
(3) CRD could recruit in more areas than western North Carolina wasteland
(4) CRD (when he made NCAA tournament) won most of the big games....Not ALMOST
(5) CRD could give an interview and nut say "uhhh" every other word.
(6) CRD beat Todd Raleigh at WCU EVERY time!
(7) CRD could beat ETSU at least occasionally.
I agree, CRD was terrible 75% of the time. But that is 68% better than CTR.
I spoke to a 4-5 SEC umpires who laughed when UT announced the CTR hire. There's one source for.
Evidently CTR was the low bidder
John_Galt writes:
Everybody loves a man until he is called a "Loser" in front of a crowd filled with family and friends in a tirade by a "grown" man who should know better.
I don't expect a coach to always be nice but I expect a coach to respect players who pay a lot of money to play baseball at UT.
CTR's treatment of Fred Corall last season (an actual grown up) shows Todd has still not changed.
Ducking ETSU this season also speaks volume on character.
Yes, I HAVE been a season ticket holder since graduating in mid 90s. I was an ardent student supporter since then.
I know a loser when I see and hear one...and Todd Raleigh has been nothing but a loser in the 2 seasons here.
The young talent is great, but since Vols seem to improve the further they get away from Todd (Cape Cod League 2009 for instance) then how can we expect meaningful change.
Hope I'm wrong....Don't think I am.
Hammastix writes:
He is a joke. I guarentee you all that built up enthusiam is from the freshman.(On paper they should go to Omaha, but reality is he (Todd) will screw with those guys heads so much they wont perform to their capabilities) We'll see how much they have left after this year. He is gonna duck ETSU because he doesnt have the fortatude to risk his job on 2 games. I know a guy who played for him at Western in 02 that told me everyone hated him their to. I guess things dont change. The seat he is sitting in is steaming hot rite. He will fold just like cheap luggage and then blame it on everyone else. My catcher called the wrong pitch, they werent ready to play, we play a hard schedule, etc. If you notice in every news paper article he has ever been in, he has transfered blame to somebody besides himself. I guess that really is the Tennessee Past time.
Vol4ever_1 writes:
I am sorry if this tees off the 2 other positive writers with this post. Putting down UT tradition is not a good thing. Understand that the only thing getting better with this program is the stadium. CTR needs to stop trying to one up CRD because he cannot.
In looking at former RPI's (Boyd's World) since 1997 when it started, 11 years for CRD and 2 for CTR, CTR's high of a 58 ranking lies in 9th best for CRD.
RPI and Year
12 - 1997
31 - 1998
71 - 1999
60 - 2000
7 - 2001
51 - 2002
57 - 2003
23 - 2004
15 - 2005
56 - 2006
51 - 2007
-----------
84 - 2008
58 - 2009
In CRD career, Vols batted .305 as a whole. How many more game would the last 2 seasons bring to victory with that?
CRD averaged over 5 guys per year to continue on as pros. CTR is close if he doesnt push guys away.
I like the HR thing that is being thrown around, fences brought in and composite bats theres the high number. Think anyone will hit as many as LSU during the light bat era?
Don't even go to recruiting classes.....
This info wasn't hard to find, it is in the media guide. This Vol fan would not have brought it out if I were not tired of all the BS that is fed to the media. Maybe the reason it works, is because no one cares or that they bank on no one caring.
When I talk about CRD, I mean his staffs as well, CRD had some good coaches. His best was CLS.
Stop searching for reasons CTR. Just win, better yet, just coach.
Vol4ever_1 writes:
Nobody truly does care when they can interview CTR and after the comment of raising the RPI by a 50 point jump from 08. Someone needs to add better or investigate his responses better.
APR hit has alot to do with the draft I believe and academically CRD went for athletes that played ball. 3 CWS appearances. What's wrong with that. Everyone adjusts, any coach would have come in and done this type of improvement.
Most would have already won at UT by now.
I'm done caring.
For a while that is.
coachbenchpressfakebakes writes:
How do you know where your program is at?
"I don't see how you can say we're not getting better," he said. "We have nobody ineligible."
- Todd Raleigh Head Baseball Coach, University of Tennessee
slov writes:
pivotal season indeed... CTR doesn't appear to be well known or well liked. wonder who our next coach will be?
coachbenchpressfakebakes writes:
If the inevitable happens my guy is Kevin McMullan University of Virgina assistant. He's a big time recruiter and a witch of a hitting coach.
The state of Tennessee has good baseball talent but Tim Corbin gets everyone he wants it seems.
Check out this article about McMullan; www.baseballamerica.com/today/college/awards/assistant-coach-of-the-year/2009/269186.html
Atuss writes:
I was very surprised when Raleigh got the UT job as many college baseball insiders were. His best qualification was that he played for Jack Leggett at WCU, hence he has a high profile guy in his corner. His resume is very pedestrian otherwise. There is no way he survives much longer.
That being said, UT cannot expect much more than the kind of success Delmonico had. The SEC is too loaded in baseball. The fact is UT may not ever consistently get out of the bottom third of the SEC.
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