Bevo Beat Horns tab former player as new assistant baseball coach By Cedric Golden Fri June 29, 7:53PM Former Texas baseball player Tommy Nicholson will be the Longhorns’ new assistant coach, a source close to the program said. Nicholson, who worked the last two seasons at Sacramento (Calif.) State University as a hitting instructor and infield coach, could be announced as soon as today. Before joining Sacramento State in 2011, Nicholson spent two seasons as a volunteer assistant at Texas. He was a three-time letter winner at second base for the Longhorns, hitting .327 and earning All-Big 12 honors in 2000, helping Texas reach the College World Series. Nicholson, 33, will replace longtime assistant coach Tommy Harmon, who was fired earlier this month after 23 seasons.
apparently we offered Butler, he got a raise from pig land, and he turned us down. ( I have NOT confirmed this yet, only one source. ) a couple of reports about the offer turned down without mention of raise:The Link The Link
I think that Tommy's age will help in recruiting, and apparently he, has skills as a hitting coach. Uh, I think we could use that...
I think this is a great hire. He played for Augie so he understands his philosophy and expectations for players. Having played for him, he can help the younger guys understand what Augie is trying to get across.
I think Tommy Nicholson is a good hire. We needed an up and coming hitting coach who could recruit and I think Tommy fits that bill well. While Sacramento State isn’t a top 20 team, they did significantly improve their hitting and infield fielding under Tommy’s tutorage. This year it wasn’t just our recruiting and hitting that needed fixing, our infield struggled with a combined .964 infield fielding percentage. I hope Tommy can help there also. I think Tommy’s age (32) is a perfect compliment to Skip (45) and Augie (73). 32 is about as young as you can be and still have made the rounds as a player in college and professional baseball and have enough college coaching to have some credibility. Not only did Tommy profit from playing under Augie and Tommy Harmon here at Texas, but he also got to see how coaching and other player development works in two minor league systems and another D1 college team. I’m also proud that Tommy Nicholson is a former Longhorn, but would have graciously accepted a new coach from a different background if he were a good fit.
From Kirk Bohls: The Link Updated: 9:56 p.m. Sunday, July 1, 2012 Published: 9:15 p.m. Sunday, July 1, 2012 Before I go on a three-week vacation, here are nine things and one crazy prediction: 1. Those surprised that Texas baseball coach Augie Garrido would hire such a young, relatively unproven person as his new hitting coach/recruiting coordinator — former Longhorn second baseman Tommy Nicholson, 33 — should know that Garrido achieved two things: He made his staff a whole lot younger and perhaps helped younger players relate better. "I'm Father Time, and (pitching coach) Skip (Johnson) is 46, so the players are more in Tommy's image," Garrido said. Nicholson wasn't the first choice. Garrido told me he offered the job to Arkansas' Todd Butler and Rice's Mike Taylor, but both parlayed the negotiations into promotions and raises at their current schools. "Tommy understands the importance of Texas baseball," Garrido told me Sunday. "He's an outstanding teacher and a computer genius. I think he's a pretty exceptional guy. He may not be the greatest coach visibly, but he's the best fit as a teacher." Garrido loved how Nicholson raised Sacramento State's team batting average 50 percentage points in one year and, as a defensive coach, helped improve the team's defense to a No. 7 national ranking.
I think a more neutral tone is in order. I know that they interviewed top assistants from better places and with better pedigrees but could not get them to leave as their home programs stepped up. In fairness this is a pretty big crap shoot for anyone who is supposed to come in and turn around recruiting. This is a two to three year project and some think (not me) that the man hiring him may not have that long if we have a repeat of this season. The best way to get better quickly is to get people who are already on board with Augie's program and approach. Really, he should not change because he has been the best. If he becomes a failure we will know soon enough and we can afford a few more years of Augie ball if he wins again because We are Texas! Clearly, this hire is Augie's way of telling the negative Nancys that he is in charge and we are doing it his way.
I like the hire. Tommy is young and enthusiastic, and he will relate to the players more because of his age. And if nothing else, he'll be able to tell the players when they need to listen and when they can ignore Augie's ********.
