I have been following the thread for some time and thought as an alum it was time to join the conversation. I did not realize that my comments were controversial but take your point. Anyway, I tend to focus on conference records and stats for a more apples-to-apples comparison. Moore took over in January 2021 & later brought in Brown in January 2022. The progression of MAC standings was as follows for 2021-2025: 6th, 4th, 5th, 8th, 11th The team ERA rankings for those years was 6th, 7th, 6th, 10th & 11th. Batting Avg: 7th, 3rd, 3rd, 8th, 4th, Fielding: 5th, 3rd, 2nd, 6th, 11th. To be fair the hitting was pretty good over the period but the pitching was atrocious. The fielding also fell off pretty substantially. I get that the above stats are not perfect for fully evaluating a team but do give some direction and the overall significant declining results seem to have a high correlation to the pitching and defense performance. The trend after the 1st two years (Less Smith guys/approach/development & more Moore guys/approach/development) was noticeable and consistently down culminating in the 2025 season trifecta of last place in the MAC for overall standings (quite a feat considering the 4th place ranking in batting), last place for pitching and last place in fielding. I think this is by definition: running a program into the ground. I did have some insight into the training/development/leadership. The coaching was an old school approach from 30 years ago. It was based on lots of running/cardio and every player doing the same weight-lifting program which was not baseball focused and more like for a football player. There were a lot of injuries including a single year where 3 guys had TJ in addition to various other injuries. I get guys get hurt, but the training did not seem to help. The team practices and drills never changed, everything exactly the same. They had some of the typical technology (trackman & rapsodo) but it was largely not utilized or used incorrectly. From a leadership perspective Moore had the old school be tough and have zero relationship with any of the players style, encouraged a negative environment that one could see when watching a game including visibly when a pitcher coming out of games after poor performance, teammates would not come out to encourage them from the dugout. Fundraising consistently went down and can be seen in the decline in the annual crowd fundraising amounts. Also, outside of some banners there was no noticeable improvements to facilities putting OU behind in the MAC. The prior coaching staff did a very poor job recruiting, development/training, coaching/leadership and the results speak for themselves. There were definitely a few bright spots/players but despite that the outcome of the last coaching staff was disastrous with consecutive years of decline and ending with a 9-21 MAC record & 14-37 overall record before they all got fired. Looking forward to the future.
I don't think your previous post was really controversial as its obvious the program is not in a good spot. I just think it was baseless and assumptive on what was really going on internally.
I played for Smith and I can tell you our training was very similar to what you are describing. The S&C department is separate from baseball activities. While there is some collaboration, the baseball coaches are pretty hands off and let the strength coaches do what they do best and what they are qualified to do. This is not uncommon. Ohio S&C is a well oiled machine and prepares OUr athletes just as well as anywhere else in the country. Its very much football/track type of programs, designed to get bigger, faster, and more explosive.
I can somewhat agree with you on the recruiting. It would appear, based on the outgoing transfers, that recruiting hitters was a strength while it would seem we lacked top arms. That is one area I think See can vastly elevate the program in.
I'm guessing fundraising will improve as See is an alum and comes from the Carbone coaching tree. Carbone has a lot of loyal alumni in his corner that wanted See to get the job following his retirement. I'm going to guess a lot of those guys will come back in their support. The real question is going to be if they can sustain and grow over time.
My opinion on the baseball facilities is well documented. Not sure how much can be blamed on the coaching staff but I don't pretend to know what goes on inside the convo offices in that regard. I hope the athletic department allocates more resources but I won't hold my breath.