Rec said:

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fightintxaggie10 said:

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Schloss set the standard for National Championships. Like most I was ready to write off Earley earlier in the season, but I've loved the turn around. I think with a couple other pieces he could get us back on track for National Title contention. Getting to a Super would be real progress toward that goal as a program.

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Just FYI, he's never won one.

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True. Though he alone is better in winning at Omaha than all our previous coaches combined…and the hire showed what can happen with a great hire…and how it can fall apart…

I know this is not a popular opinion with some who circle this board just waiting for failure. Like vultures circling overhead.
But I am truly rooting for coach Earley.
Especially after the literal slaughtering and verbal abuse he has endured...especially on Texags.
Some of the things said on here have gotten completely out of control ...especially if produced by so-called "adults".
I hope that we can get some injured players back and that they'll perform well enough to show some folks that this is a good program in good hands.
I believe Earley can lead this program.

There is an issue with either his talent assessment or his ability to get his players up to their potential

AgRyan04 said:

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There is an issue with either his talent assessment or his ability to get his players up to their potential

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I think it was assessment. Their portal guys weren't ready for SEC caliber of play even though they were highly ranked portal players

TAMU1990 said:

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_mpaul said:

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Agryan00 said:

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He went from a disaster to possibly hosting a Super. Also not sure how you can decipher which coach accounted for what as you name Pennington. Earley has now poven himself in one season but before we do the Aggie thing and give him a big contract I would like to see him do it again. But my guess is we will pay the man.

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We already did the Aggie thing and gave him a big contract--before he even coached a game as a HC.

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I thought he was in the bottom 3 of SEC coaches. I wouldn't classify that as a big contract.

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I did not realize there was salary band for SEC coaches.


We have the coaches who have a CWS title.
Brian O Conner - $2.9M
Tim Corbin - $2.4M
Kevin OSullivan - $1.8M
Jay Johnson - $1.8M
Mike Bianco - $1.6M
Paul Maineri - $1.3M

Then the coaches that made the CWS finals.
Jim "pineapple" Schloss - $2.2M
Dave Van Horn - $1.4M
Skip Johnson - $1M

Then the coaches that took a team to the CWS
Butch Thompson - $1.3M
Nick Mingione - $0.8M

Then the coaches who were conference coach of the year and won their conference
Rob Vaughn - $0.9M (2x Big 10 Coach of the year and 3 first place)
Kerrick Jackson - $0.7M (2019 1st at Southern)

Then you have the guys with MLB experience and that won a title as an assistant
Wes Johnson - $1.3M (Won CWS as LSU pitching coach in 2023 and was hot target to become a HC)

Then you get what we have
Michael Earley - $0.9M (8 years as asst coach, no big programs willing to make him a HC other than us).

Your right he was in the bottom 3rd but we still overpaid him.

I've been pleasantly surprised with his year 2 adjustments. If he can replace Kelly with somebody useful, we would be absolutely miserable to play against.

Our team ERA in SEC play is better than the 1st place team. When you can hit the ball, pitching doesn't have to be perfect.

For all you useless folks calling to ditch Kelly, who are you replacing him with?

12thMan9 said:

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Our team ERA in SEC play is better than the 1st place team. When you can hit the ball, pitching doesn't have to be perfect.

For all you useless folks calling to ditch Kelly, who are you replacing him with?

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If you're taking about average runs scored per game, we're really good, right behind Georgia. If you're actually talking about ERA, we're really bad at 6.12. You can't be really bad in any primary metric and expect to win at a high level. We could replace Kelly with dozens of different people that would all be upgrades.

I'm glad you think the pitching has been good Mrs. Kelly!

Several Southeastern Conference (SEC) schools have implemented advanced, in-house pitching labs to analyze biomechanics, improve velocity, and reduce injury risks, with many incorporating technology such as high-speed cameras, force plates, and ball-tracking systems. [url=https://gamecocksonline.com/news/2024/03/25/baseball-goes-high-tech-with-video-pitching-hitting-lab/][/url]
University of South Carolina Athletics +1
As of early 2026, the following SEC schools are identified as having, or having in development, specialized pitching labs or high-tech development facilities:

• Alabama: Features a dedicated pitching lab used to develop top-tier talent.(18)
• Arkansas: Utilizes advanced technology in pitching development.(43)
• Auburn: Implements NewtForce technology for mechanical analysis.(4)
• Florida: Features a pitching lab.(14)
• Georgia: Led by coach Wes Johnson, who is known for implementing pitching labs.(69)
• LSU: Features a top-tier pitching lab led by Wes Johnson and Nate Yeskie.(112)
• Mississippi State: Implements modern, data-driven pitching labs.(15)
• Ole Miss: Features a, in-stadium pitching lab, as mentioned in this Instagram post.(36)
• South Carolina: Features a high-tech video pitching/hitting lab equipped with 16 high-speed cameras and 3D motion capture.(47)
• Tennessee: Utilizes advanced, high-tech pitching development facilities.(45)
• Texas A&M: Features a pitching lab.(64)
• Vanderbilt: Features a state-of-the-art pitching lab and is a pioneer in using technology for pitching development. (97)[url=https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6197518/2025/03/13/mlb-college-baseball-pitching-labs-lsu-vanderbilt/][/url]
  The New York Times +6

This is a quick search of who has labs, according to AI overview. Numbers in parenthesis are current NCAA rankings.

HeyAbbott said:

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Coach Earley is improving some but he has to address our pitching woes in particular starting pitching. I think Coach Pennington has helped things this year but have mixed results on Coach Kelly and the direction of our pitching staff.

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I'm 50/50 on the pitching coach. With that said, I think there was so much unknown after ending last year the prohibited us from some possible top pitching recruits. With a better overall team outcome this year, we now look more stable. Should help in getting some more talent.

The starting pitching last year was servicable at best.

It was outstanding the first 15 or 16 games last year, which is what everyone remembers.

2.06 ERA and a 5.44 SO/BB up until March 14th when conference play started.

Then it went the other direction. The final 40 games the starters ERA was 5.22 and the SO/BB dropped to 3.78. That includes all the midweek cupcakes.

In conference play the pitching staff finished 9th in ERA and 12th in strikeouts and 13th in BAA. There is nothing good thwt can be derived from being in the bottom half of the conference in those numbers.

There was no elite arm talent and it showed in the results (and, frankly, on the draft boards).

Is you have to go midweek games to boost your stance that's telling. I was talking about the weekend rotation. You know, what is really important.

Including the weekday numbers actually work against my argument.....waaaay fewer ERs given up

Edit: I went ahead ran the numbers.....removing the weekday games, the starters ERA goes up to 5.39.

dermdoc said:

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Agryan00 said:

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You pay a guy what his market worth is at the time. You can always increase or extend his salary at a later date.

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I agree in the "real" world. College coaching is a different deal in my opinion. And to be honest, I don't think the "Fire Earley" guys were motivated primarily by the contract. I have never witnessed so many self proclaimed baseball savants who thought they knew more than Earley and everyone else.

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I am about to agree with dermdoc, uh oh. I think the "Fire Earley" guys are more of a sign of the desperation Aggie fans have for winner in major sport (Football, Basketball, Baseball) and reflection of how bad our AD office has been. Aggie fans are hungry for winner and after getting a taste in baseball in 2024 and having the rug pulled out from under us there was still hope as the #1 seed headed into 2025. Then we installed a coach with zero head coaching experience and are we really surprised it finished in Missouri. So Earley was unfairly the focus of the fanbase frustration when it should of been the AD office. I know many will say it was Schloss but Schloss didn't run the Football team, he didn't run the basketball team, and he didn't let RC go 12 years without a CWS win.

Agryan00 said:

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dermdoc said:

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Agryan00 said:

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You pay a guy what his market worth is at the time. You can always increase or extend his salary at a later date.

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I agree in the "real" world. College coaching is a different deal in my opinion. And to be honest, I don't think the "Fire Earley" guys were motivated primarily by the contract. I have never witnessed so many self proclaimed baseball savants who thought they knew more than Earley and everyone else.

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I am about to agree with dermdoc, uh oh. I think the "Fire Earley" guys are more of a sign of the desperation Aggie fans have for winner in major sport (Football, Basketball, Baseball) and reflection of how bad our AD office has been. Aggie fans are hungry for winner and after getting a taste in baseball in 2024 and having the rug pulled out from under us there was still hope as the #1 seed headed into 2025. Then we installed a coach with zero head coaching experience and are we really surprised it finished in Missouri. So Earley was unfairly the focus of the fanbase frustration when it should have been the AD office. I know many will say it was Schloss but Schloss didn't run the Football team, he didn't run the basketball team, and he didn't let RC go 12 years without a CWS win.

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I agree. Uh oh.
BTHO Mississippi State!

Agryan00 said:

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TAMU1990 said:

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_mpaul said:

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Agryan00 said:

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He went from a disaster to possibly hosting a Super. Also not sure how you can decipher which coach accounted for what as you name Pennington. Earley has now poven himself in one season but before we do the Aggie thing and give him a big contract I would like to see him do it again. But my guess is we will pay the man.

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We already did the Aggie thing and gave him a big contract--before he even coached a game as a HC.

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I thought he was in the bottom 3 of SEC coaches. I wouldn't classify that as a big contract.

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I did not realize there was salary band for SEC coaches.


We have the coaches who have a CWS title.
Brian O Conner - $2.9M
Tim Corbin - $2.4M
Kevin OSullivan - $1.8M
Jay Johnson - $1.8M
Mike Bianco - $1.6M
Paul Maineri - $1.3M

Then the coaches that made the CWS finals.
Jim "pineapple" Schloss - $2.2M
Dave Van Horn - $1.4M
Skip Johnson - $1M

Then the coaches that took a team to the CWS
Butch Thompson - $1.3M
Nick Mingione - $0.8M

Then the coaches who were conference coach of the year and won their conference
Rob Vaughn - $0.9M (2x Big 10 Coach of the year and 3 first place)
Kerrick Jackson - $0.7M (2019 1st at Southern)

Then you have the guys with MLB experience and that won a title as an assistant
Wes Johnson - $1.3M (Won CWS as LSU pitching coach in 2023 and was hot target to become a HC)

Then you get what we have
Michael Earley - $0.9M (8 years as asst coach, no big programs willing to make him a HC other than us).

Your right he was in the bottom 3rd but we still overpaid him.

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Your analysis is meaningless. The right price is one agreed to by the buyer and the seller. Everything else is just dickering or what we also call negotiation…