re: Jay blew this year.

Jay needs to reset this offseason. His "just keep grinding" mentality ain't going to get it done with every team he has.

There is no reason they should have lost last night. That stadium was dead.

quote:

---

Jay needs to reset this offseason. His "just keep grinding" mentality ain't going to get it done with every team he has.

---

I think that's somewhat fair. Just like this team playing tight this year is also probably fair. Reading between the lines, I think something is off with this team's chemistry. It's a chicken or egg thing for sure, but I'm not sure this team really even likes each other. That could be due to the struggles or the struggles could be due to it. I also think some apathy has set in with some of the players who were major contributors last year. Once they realized they weren't good enough to repeat, I think some lost a little fire. Not that they quit working, just that maybe it became more about them individually and preparing for their professional careers. And I don't think they have the leaders like last year to pull them all together.

I don't think he had much choice, but he probably counted on some freshmen to be more ready and some sophomores to take much bigger jumps than they were probably ready for. And I don't get the sense that Jay is very warm and fuzzy, pat-you-on-your arse kinda guy. He seems to be extremely honest with the players. Which works well with some. But not all. But he has a standard and demands excellence, and I just don't think he's in the clubhouse hugging Thatcher Hurd or Paxton Kling telling them "It'll be ok." And his expectations puts a lot of pressure on guys. And if they're the kind that need that pat on the arse instead of a kick in it, it can really affect their play. Like the other guy mentioned, these guys look tight a lot.

But that also comes from not just being the defending NC, but is even more magnified by putting on the "LSU" uniform. Some people embrace it, and it makes them better, others it can make wilt a bit. Especially the younger ones. But though he probably understands the "reasons," I don't think he has much patience for "excuses."

You can tell when he pulls a pitcher who is struggling with confidence after a bad outing. Like Loer and Hurd, who I think he pulled Sunday back to back (Loer I think threw to 2 hitters, Hurd, don't think either recorded an out). Hurd looked like he needed a hug from his Momma walking off that field, but there didn't appear to be any "That's ok, Big Guy. You'll get em next time." I'm not even sure he said a word to them, just stood there like "Get the frick off my mound."

I don't think he's a big yeller either, probably doesn't chew a lot of arse (although he may with his assistants. I'm sure they appreciate him, like him personally, and are happy to have worked for him as long as they have, but it seems like he probably demands a lot of them and is not a whole lot of fun to work for). But you don't have to chew a lot of arse. Don't have to be a cheerleader either. His style can work. Clearly. It has proven to. But every team is different, with a different collection of different personalities. So, he'll have to either learn to be a bit more flexible or really vet the personalities of his recruits, trying to fill the roster with guys who can handle and even thrive with his style.

Either way, I think he's really smart and will learn from this season and adapt. He's still a really young coach. He's never been the defending NC before. And he's obviously never been the defending NC at LSU before either, which I think is likely harder than any other school in America. Fans have completely unrealistic expectations and maybe he did too. Maybe he overrated the talent on this team. But he is never going to punt on a season, so he kept demanding that excellence. And when he didn't get it, he just started throwing every shite imaginable up against the wall, and that uncertainty added pressure and a lot of these guys aren't handing it well and not playing up to their potential.

Or maybe we just aren't that talented, and this is the best coaching job he's ever done. In which case, roster building would be the fairer criticism of him. Regardless, I think he'll learn, adapt, and adjust and be just fine moving forward. These kind of seasons will wind up being the anomalies and outliers. I have faith he'll get it turned around and will have a really good team next year that has a chance at Omaha and probably be competing to win it all again by '26.

Jay can’t live off the Portal or he’s going to have many more years like this.

I think Jay would admit this might be his worst year as a coach.

Seemed none of the moves worked and almost none of the guys we needed to step up did so and the ones that did step forward took too long.

Good news is our recruiting was strong, we can work the portal to fill gaps.

I’m slightly concerned that next year might be bad as well.

PM won a natty decided to snooze for a year and then the next year it got worse and then we got better.

So there is a chance next year is another stink year and then we are back rolling.

JJ didn’t snooze and take off so maybe it’s just a one year blip.

Yea first time winning a title and it’s not easy defending it.

This isn’t the 90s where only like 25 teams cared about baseball.

People forget it took Saban multiple national titles to build his unstoppable monster.

His first title we slide back, after he won his first at bama they slid back a bit. It wasn’t until the third that he went back to back and proceeded to barely ever lose.

My only question that I have with Jay is the handling of pitchers on when to leave and when to pull. Seems all year this year I am always left scratching my head but always give Jay the benefit of the doubt. I know he doesn’t have to and it isn’t common to do so, but man I would love to hear the coach’s thought process.

quote:

---

Does one CWS win get you that kind of pass?

---

Got Manieri 13 years

PM won the SEC 4 times, 6 SEC Tournaments and a National Championship
He’s a Hall of Fame coach

I agree with most everything you said Hot Carl. Also like how you explained it all in detail.

One thing I noticed multiple times this year is how tight CJJ is during games. Granted this has been a season where almost all games were tough, lot of tense moments, etc.

One game in particular the camera caught CJJ in the dugout with his head and upper body leaned down in disgust after a bad play. Circle back to your comments, I think that body language hurts all types of players. They feed off of his frustrations (in my opinion).

Lastly I agree with you, I honestly think he will adapt and do well at LSU. I think CJJ’s hard core nature, last years title, this year not going the way he and the large fan base wanted for whatever reason is tearing him apart.