Time to cut bait and move on…..

The "one" what?

Seriously? Maybe I turned my sarcasm meter off for Easter Sunday.

Jo Evans
Head coaching record
Overall 858–480–2

Since you know so much about softball, who are you going to google to say should replace her?

We have to get our facilities up to par with the rest of the SEC soon. Then go after Jo

Texags, where the main topic of discussion is about who to fire next.

And I love when people throw that overall record out there from Wikipedia.

Pretty impressive since she won her 1000th career game early this season. But since you are such a knowledgable follower of Aggie softball let us know who the next coach should be.

I think a number of our athletic teams are having to adjust to a conference where you have to show up for every series every week. I think we knew it for football, but the combination of Sumlin and Manziel made it seem that it really wasn't as hard as we thought it would be.

In the Big XII (or whatever it was) there were several members who didn't compete in baseball or softball and several others each year who you just knew that you would win or even sweep the series just by showing up. Not so anymore! Every game is a struggle, and a series win is cause for celebration. And every member of the SEC competes well in virtually every sport.

That's the mindset we have to get use to. Last year in softball, I think we finished 9th in the league, but got ourselves into the super regionals and competed very well against the #1 tournament seed. Not too shabby for #9.

In the end, I think we'll adjust and become more competitive every week for every game.

Well put Colorado. We have to start thinking nationally and not necessarily SEC or even West Division to gauge our success.

Personally I think any coach who has been with the school a long time and has not won a natty should be reviewed and considered for termination. Some cases will show that you need to keep them because they have built the program and are still winning and competing at a high level. Other cases will show a coach has peaked and while did win a lot of games does not show growth over years of examples and it is time to move on. I think both Evans and Childress are very close to being the later.

With the recruiting base of Houston & Dallas, the talent is all Evans has to do. You could pick any name and get the exact same results you get now. if you watch enough games, you will see Evans is THE MOST PREDICTABLE coach in the league. She has not grown with the game and I am sure is just padding her bank account for the day she and her coaching staff can ride off into the sunset.

The school and the SEC should require a coach that is a mover and a shaker and can make players better! There is ZERO coaching on the softball field and it is about time someone realizes it!

I say new stadium, new coach!

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I say new stadium, new coach!

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The latter will likely precede the former. I don't think a potential big donor for a stadium is willing to invest in JE. JMO

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With the recruiting base of Houston & Dallas, the talent is all Evans has to do. You could pick any name and get the exact same results you get now. if you watch enough games, you will see Evans is THE MOST PREDICTABLE coach in the league. She has not grown with the game and I am sure is just padding her bank account for the day she and her coaching staff can ride off into the sunset.

The school and the SEC should require a coach that is a mover and a shaker and can make players better! There is ZERO coaching on the softball field and it is about time someone realizes it!

I say new stadium, new coach!

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A&M has absolute **** for facilities compared to the rest of the SEC and Baylor and tu. She has had to recruit against all of those schools and has done a pretty good job so far. If you can't give her the kind of facilities necessary to recruit with the big boys we will be on the outside looking in much of the time.

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I say new stadium, new coach!

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The latter will likely precede the former. I don't think a potential big donor for a stadium is willing to invest in JE. JMO

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You name the sport that's been given great facilities and JE has just about matched all of them.

Similarly, the "best" coach at this school (Pat Henry)- while getting his indoor track- is probably going to be in a long struggle to get his outdoor track built and until then he'll get to train his team at an incredibly terrible facility.

Softball just hasn't gotten lucky, or they got unlucky and are down the list of facilities to improve.

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Personally I think any coach who has been with the school a long time and has not won a natty should be reviewed and considered for termination. Some cases will show that you need to keep them because they have built the program and are still winning and competing at a high level. Other cases will show a coach has peaked and while did win a lot of games does not show growth over years of examples and it is time to move on. I think both Evans and Childress are very close to being the later.

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What is a "long time"?

Since Evans came to A&M in 1997, there have been 18 WCWS championship games/series.

That's 36 opportunities for teams to make it that far. Evans claimed 1 of those opportunities. The other 34 opportunities have been filled by a total of 13 schools.

We're 1 of 14 schools to make it that far in 18 years, and several of the other 13 have not made repeat appearances.

Over those 18 years, 9 different schools have won at least one championship. 5 of them are Pac-10/12 schools, and another is from California (Fresno State in 1998, a perennial power before the rest of the country started giving a crap about softball).

Alabama won in 2012, Oklahoma won in 2013 and 2000, and Michigan won in 2005.

Those were Alabama and Michigan's only appearances ever in the championship series.

The list of teams to make the World Series finale doesn't include UT-Austin, it doesn't include LSU, it doesn't include Florida State...

I truly welcome and embrace the high expectations we have in Aggieland, but that's a really, really, really, really high standard you've got going there.

Would you consider, seriously, firing Coach G because we've not been one of the 4 or so programs over the past 15ish years that won a national title and are not named North Carolina?

[This message has been edited by TXAggie2011 (edited 4/24/2014 12:31a).]

Great post, 2011.

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If you watch enough games, you will see Evans is THE MOST PREDICTABLE coach in the league.

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Care to back that up with any actual evidence or real analysis? How are we measuring "predictability" these days? The number of times sitting in your sofa you think Evans should have done something different?

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She has not grown with the game

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What the hell does that even mean? Pitch the ball, hit the ball, field the ball, recruit.

[This message has been edited by _mpaul (edited 4/23/2014 10:48p).]

The problem really boils down to not recruiting or developing a dominant pitcher...without that, you normally have an average type team, and that is what we have right now in the SEC.

Help out an uninformed Ag. What is the official plan/timeline for a new softball stadium?

I've heard for years that we need one because our facilities are garbage (totally true, we are barely matching high school standards right now), but I don't remember seeing a plan from the Athletic Department.

Is this still just talk or is a new stadium actually on the way?

The most recent 12th man magazine has a feature article about a guy who made a lead gift for the project, but indicated we needed more to break ground. Looks like the plans are drawn up as a replica of Blue Bell Park.

generally speaking have to have 75% of the funds raised or in the bank to begin construction.

where would the new softball field be built?

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She has not grown with the game

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What the hell does that even mean? Pitch the ball, hit the ball, field the ball, recruit.

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I too am a bit curious as to what that means.

The "growth" of the game, to me, has taken on two primary faces- 1) the rise of good programs east of the Mississippi (many being in the SEC and 2) the rise of a deeper, more athletic talent pool.

As for #1, there isn't any hiding we've yet to crack the top of the SEC, but we've been to 2 Super Regionals in the last 3 years, and last year, came out of the SEC as a regional host and a super regional team. So, we've not been too bad the past few years. This year, it doesn't look as if we'll host a regional and yeah, that's a criticism I'd fully admit.

As for #2, that's an interesting one because the growth of the talent base has made the game more offensive and less defensive/pitching focused. I'd also fully admit we're not trotting out the deepest team in the country, but that's just an interesting criticism when propped up against all the hollering about needing "an elite pitcher."

In the end, Jo Evans made the Women's College World Series in her 22nd year of coaching, then followed it up with that second A&M appearance- and a run to the championship series- in her 23rd year. She's made a Super Regional 2 out of the last 3 years, having gone on a 3 year Super Regional drought.

To me, that's not the resume of a coach who can't or won't "grow with the game."

(Just a sidenote- Jo Evans made the WCWS twice while the coach at Utah)

[This message has been edited by TXAggie2011 (edited 4/24/2014 4:33p).]

Jason Cook mentioned on a premium thread that the new softball stadium will be located on the old intramural fields.

Clearly, there are many of you that don't follow too much softball. "Grow with the game". The same old playbook will not win anymore. When you have "walk on pitching" or have to lure unhappy kids to transfer from other programs due to an inability to get top notch pitching, means you obviously don't have the goods to get a GREAT pitcher anymore. Megan & Amanda were die hard Aggies. Evans has been fortunate, because of the school, to get some pretty incredible talent. However if you were to take a closer look, you would see that many of the kids, even top notch talent, are disappointed with their choice of softball programs. Granted TAMU is and always will be the best education and collegiate experience around, but for those athletes that have a craving for excellence on the softball field, there just simply is not the coaching at TAMU. You would just have to watch some of the programs that are able to get the top of the line pitching....... look at their staff. It has DOMINANT pitching coaches paid to be there. The reason you think hitting is the problem, is that good pitching stops good hitting. So CLEARLY Evans does NOT have that. And will have trouble getting and keeping that. If they begin to struggle, there will be NO ONE there to help them through to get them back on track.

Do some homework before you say these posts are incorrect! Results...... in this case....... does not come from Coaching! It comes from talent! So much more could be done with the talent TAMU is able to get with little to no effort! MUCH MUCH MORE!

_MPAUL....... i assure you that I am not on the edge of my sofa. Go back to ESPN online and watch the kentucky game. commentators say it all there. down by 3 and still trying to but on first pitch to move runner................ WITH NICOLE MORGAN UP! ARE YOU SERIOUS! She NEVER has hit and run. since hitters have trouble with contact these days.

She has the catcher calling the games that is more predictable than she is. in.........out...................in................ out!!!

Hence pitchers getting POUNDED!!!!

I could go on and on and on from my SOFA!!!!

I think you would be surprised at just how closely some of us DO follow this team.

I would think that if you were watching closely then you would see that with the talent she has had even in the last 5 years, there should have been at least ONE trip to the WCWS...... By this time of the year, the team is in shambles. Kids guessing on what they are doing wrong or right. Just watch Saturday's game vs FL. Ripping Cali Lanphear. Seriously. A kid that can potentially beat Meagan May's career home run record humiliated on national tv. Why not empower that kid. Believe in her. She could be a difference maker, however looks like she has NO ONE believing in her. And the camera caught it!

Does Jo get any credit for recruiting, developing, and coaching Megan and Amanda?

NONE!!!!! ZERO!!!!

Both of those kids were going to TAMU end of story. And both had coaches they saw during off times to get better!

Rich Wiligman was there and was a true hitting coach. Whereby you saw WCWS appearance. Even during that....... Amanda....... a PLAYER went to call time to help her fellow teammate. NO COACHES DID THAT!

Wow, you seem to have an agenda.

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Wow, you seem to have an agenda.

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Aggie no.1 needs to start taking only half a Prozac at a time.

Since Megan and Amanda she has not recruited a top notch pitcher Mel was gutsy but not a dominate pitcher. Jo cannot recruit a top notch pitcher thus A&M cannot compete in the SEC

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Welp, you got this all figured out dontcha?

It is one thing to be competitive and lose close games, it is totally different to get routed on a consistent basis like Jo's team has this year. That is unacceptable. Jo wins the franchione award for the 2013-14 year.