Coach Pierce Appreciation Thread

Pierce is doing fine. Some people just like to complain a lot.

 

Conference Champion in a “rebuilding” year. Excellent job by Coach David Pierce and the Texas Longhorns!!!

 

Ok all you Pierce haters can sit down and pipe down now.

 

It’s all about the titles.

National titles.

 

OK, that's fine in a philosophical sense, but let's have some reality. He's been to Omaha twice since then and just won the Big 12 regular season title this year. His last place finish 4 years ago did not mean the ship was going down like it did for Augie.

 

What did I miss? Is there a fire Pierce like there is a fire Terry group?

 

There are some that will call for his head if we win it all this year, but only make the Super Regionals next year.

 

With a program, there is some real value to continuity + quality. Should we have fired Rick Barnes? Fred Akers? You're not going to win it all, or make the finals, every year.

By the standards of some people, Rod Dedeaux would be the only decent coach in college baseball history. And they might have fired him in a down year.

 

Congrats to Coach Pierce on leading the program to it's 10th Big XII championship and the math gets fuzzy, but 70 something conference championship. I thought the banner outside the stadium said 79 so this would be number 80, but wikipedia has this as #72. It's a freaking lot.

 

Big 12 COY if the world is right, but they hate us so he may get gypped out of it.

 

Pierce has done a good job, but 15-9 is the same for both teams. WVU dude deserves it. We gots better talent.

 

Pierce lost EIGHT starters from last year to the draft so while we do have top tier talent, this team had to be developed and cobbled together throughout the year to win yet another conference title.

Mazey has built a pretty good program at WVU, but the coach of the year doesn't get his *** handed to him with a sweep in the last series of the season when all you had to do is win one of three to win the outright title. None of the games were ever really in doubt.

 

That's the way I look at it as well, Chop. We did not just beat them, we kicked their butts.

For me, this weekend finally made the OU sweep go bye-bye. Suppose we had swept OU and then been swept by WVU. We would have the exact same record, still be B12 co-champs, but it would not feel near as good, and our RPI would be lower. The OU sweep was a turd in the punchbowl since it happened, until this team made it go away this weekend. Better to finish strong. WVU is also B12 co-champs, but I doubt they feel all that great about it.

 

You get 24 conference games. All weighted the same. We had 3 starters return with significant experience. We got 4 top 200 every day guys, 3 transfers with considerable experience. Would you like to tell me how many CWS starts WVU has? How many conference baseball titles? And all Pierce had to do to win it was not get swept at home by a bottom half of the conference team.

 

What we looked like before game 1 of the season:

1B Thomas...new guy, no bat
2B O'Dowd...returning bench-warmer
SS Daly...good glove, anemic bat
3B Flores...new guy, no bat
C Guillemette...transfer, decent numbers at USC
OF Campbell...star
OF Kennedy...star
OF Brown...good at TCU, 5 tool player, not an exceptional bat though
DH maybe Powell...a perennial bench-warmer

Pierce's development of Powell, Thomas, Brown, Guillemette, O'Dowd, Galvan, etc. has been outstanding. Our line-up looked lousy during that opening tournament in Arlington. Now, you can put us next to Texas Tech as the top batting lineup in the conference.

Now that's some player development!

 

My supposing is limited to scenarios where we end up with the same record we now have. Anything beyond that is not supposing, it's wishing, and that is just going to lead to unhappiness.

 

I was simply taking the counter to why WVU coach failed. Getting swept several weeks ago versus last weekend has the same impact on the record. I believe we were even in first at the time. But I believe your point to be accurate. It is what it is. We are co-champs, and that’s not all bad.

I like Pierce. I can’t even tell you who I’d prefer over him, if anyone. He’s not perfect just like everyone else.

I think he scouts well, develops well. This year he brought in guys that balanced the team incredibly well and has made better efforts to engage role players. His handing of certain players and opportunities during the season does lack in certain cases.

As for coach of the year, in my opinion, you can’t separate the initial conference series from the last. It’s the totality, and there were 3 teams atop the conference. So I give the nod to the guy coaching the team that’s accomplished little to nothing, likely has lesser talent. I actually applaud his efforts to strategize in attempt to maximize their attempts to win one game. And even though they lost, you could argue that his efforts gave them that shot. Their best shot was game 3. And starting Minchey versus OU was a way worse decision than this.

As for this Texas team, I’m very much been on their side the entirety of the season. Even down to the individual player, I highlight the potential or positives they bring to the table.

 

Pierce got screwed out of B12 COY as I predicted.

 

A whopping 3 players with significant experience with one of the 3 flaming out (Mitch Daly). We won another conference championship, are the #1 seed in the tournament and had 8 players make all Big 12 1st team (5), 2nd team (1), honorable mention (1) and all freshman team (1). In comparison WVU had 13 players make the list yet we just swept them. I'm not a sunshine pumper because I've been called a "hater" on other boards. I just call it like I see it and as far a this baseball team goes I feel good with the progress made from the beginning of the season to now.

 

Coach gets a chance starting in 30 minutes to show who the COY should have been, he wins the regular post season championship, those trophy's will invalidate and cheapen the one given to the COY.

 

No. GG, Carlson and Porter Brown had significant experience. Just not here. No one will claim AD Mitchell is inexperienced. No one says Tyrese Hunter is inexperienced. Playing together in baseball is less important than any other sport.

ODowd has experience and maturity. Powell is as mature as you’ll find. Both have played in the CWS, regionals and/or super regionals.

Freshman are impactful in college baseball every single year. Every year. Ours were Baseball America top 200 type guys. Only one has been hugely impactful so what these guys have done is nothing extraordinary.

As for the pitching staff, freshmen are making little to no impact. We’re quite experienced on the pitching staff. Just not all of them here.

Pierce did a good job. But he didn’t create chicken salad out of chicken ****. This is the lowest win percentage to win the Big 12. It was a 3 way tie. We’re well positioned to finish it out. Mazey on the other hand has sorta made a nice little salad outta chicken ****.

I’d rather run to the CWS than Pierce win a coaching trophy.

 

This is an appreciation thread that you keep shitting on. Regardless of how you discount every success and action Pierce has taken to win yet another conference championship this is an appreciation thread. I don't believe he's Howdy Doody stumbling into 3 conference championships and 2 trips to the CWS in his first few years. I believe he is making moves to be competitive in the most competitive college baseball scene ever. Is he perfect? No, he makes mistakes. Is he an all time coach? I don't know yet, that will play out over time but I think he is a Top 10 coach right now in college baseball.

Since you have been very vocal about your disapproval of him over the past several months why don't you start your very own Pierce Disapproval thread.

 

You’re right. It is a Pierce appreciation thread.

I’ve made appreciative comments regarding him. And I’m sorry if you can’t infer it as positive, that when I say this team is well balanced across the board and that they have talent, that as the head guy he is responsible for that. Enough talent to run to the CWS. A sentiment that I would have conveyed immediately after getter swept by OU.

Hard to tell on here, but my comment about winning the CWS is the only thing that matters was in jest. I’ve never once discounted his 3 CWS appearances. I like conference champs. I like CWS appearances. I hope to watch a regional live and in person but won’t consider it a failure if I don’t get that chance.

Hell, you even passed over where I said I like Pierce, highlighting a few things I like, and stating I’m not sure who I’d take over.

Sorry, if I counter argue, the lack of experience argument. It’s simply not true. But hell maybe the baseballs in California or Ft. Worth, Fresno, Houston and San Jac are different.

But thanks DP for bringing this team together. They are enjoyable to watch. I appreciate the way they play.

 

Ok, truce. I guess the reason I passed over your positive comments is because almost all of them were followed up with a reason why he didn't really do anything significant to deserve appreciation. As an example: "Pierce did a good job. But...". In any conversation the "but" eliminates the good job part of the message.

I'll stop now, I think I get it.

 

Holy smokes, Super Regional with this team after all he had to replace. This kinda confirms my stand that he got screwed out of B12 COY.

 

My only complaint is that he mollycoddled the bullpen with the HBP and BB ********. But I figured he would tighten the reins for post-season.

 

Where is the winner of that award coaching next week? Oh, at home.

I agree, Pierce did more over the summer and fall to build this team and earn that award. Looking at our potential matchups for the supers we have just as good a shot as anyone to make it back to Omaha after being gutted last year.

 

I know chop and I have been discussing the potential for this team since before the season began, that with Woody, Rodriguez and Pierce there were possibilities for this team that weren’t realized by many out there and many questioned our enthusiasm for those possibilities. It hasn’t been easy nor will it be easy the rest of the way.

I do not see a team left in the tournament that can stop these guys. If they continue performing at this level, especially if the 7,8,9 hole hitters contribute even a little along with Witt and the bullpen improving their performances, this team can go as far as they have dreamed of going.

 

If we get past Stanford/aTm, we'll face what may be the best college baseball team in a decade--this year's Wake Forest. But, we can beat them. When he's on, Gordon can hold them under 3 runs. Even against some bada$$ pitching, this lineup will usually get 3+ runs.

If I was Wake, the only 2 teams I wouldn't want to match up with in the opening game of the CWS are Texas and Tennessee. Shoot, I wouldn't want to match up with us in game 2 with LBJ on the mound either. Wake will be the favorite (again, if we make it past Stanford/aTm, which I think we will). But we'll at least have a solid fighting chance with our starting pitching. All-American vs All-American. Could be a low scoring game.

 

Yeah, I would like to face that wake forest team. I want them.