Time to assign Coach O'Connor a letter grade

OG Goat Holder

Heisman
Sep 30, 2022
12,990
11,932
113
B+. Gotta make Omaha to get an A, but still a breath of fresh air after the last 4 years of Lemonis.
That type of rigidity makes your point less. As we have seen, this tournament throws a lot of wrenches, and I like that. But if you’re trying to evaluate properly, you have to look at the paths each team took.

For example, Ole Miss. Most will say their season is overall more of a success than ours and that’s true. But they weren’t t a better team and OC didn’t do worse than Bianco. And if judging the program for the future, you’d be insane to say they are in better shape than us. Unless they win the title which isn’t likely.
 

MStateU

All-Conference
Nov 15, 2009
997
2,068
93
It’s B+ for sure if not A-

Hosted a home regional and swept through it. Ran into the highest remaining seed in the tournament and got beat in two 1 run games. Playing our best ball at end of year and brought in some studs on a short recruiting year for him. Great start to his MSU career.
 
Apr 5, 2026
89
110
33
B+

While we blew some series that we maybe could've won, we were without 1 of our 2 best pitchers for most of the season.

We went toe to toe with probably the most talented team in the field, and were a Landon Sims from beating them.

That and it's his first season...mini-me is at what, Y4 at GA and they've been loading top classes for several years now. It takes time.
 

Trojanbulldog19

All-American
Aug 25, 2014
10,045
5,817
113
B. Can't win big without a bullpen. You make supers that gets you the B. Waste of a really good lineup without a couple of guys that close games down. The years we made the cws in modern era and made the finals was because of really good pitching. If you don't have it you ain't getting there.
 

The Peeper

Heisman
Feb 26, 2008
15,898
11,244
113
B, no stones to win the games late in the season to get a better draw.

I’ll take it bc Lemonis sucked *** and should have been fired in 2023.
In hindsight, '22 but definitely '23 but Selmon didn't want to hurt anybody's feelings. You don't go from National Champs in '21 to last in conference in '22 and next to last in '23 and still have a job in '24. That one's on Selmon
 
  • Like
Reactions: PhredPhantom

POTUS

Heisman
Sep 29, 2022
4,233
11,108
113
O’Connor should be referred to as Wes Johnson Jr. until proven otherwise. That’s my grade. 0-6
 

wasabaka

Junior
Sep 17, 2012
394
256
63
F - He pitched to Tanner Allen in the CWS**
Real answer for me - B+ for making a Super to be a solid top 16 (probably closer to top 8-10) team with a really bad draw against the highest remaining seed who has owned us all year long. He does, however, need to figure out the bullpen issues and get more arrows in the quiver.
 
  • Like
Reactions: FormerBully
Feb 19, 2013
1,265
393
83
Would you Be happy with our team peacocking like those doůches? I shire as shıt wouldn’t be!
I'm not sure if you're serious, but their record is 51-12 (23-7), they are the SEC regular season and tournament champions, and they are headed to Omaha as the favorites to win it all. So yea, if our team was having that kind of season, I would be totally fine with them having plenty of swagger.

That said, I still don't think I would trade O'Connor for Johnson.
 

TaleofTwoDogs

All-Conference
Jun 1, 2004
4,135
1,868
113
Hard to say. On the field performance a B or B+. It's what you don't see is the true measurement of his performance. Is the baseball program itself been given a more positive competitive stance or not. Time will tell.
 

TXDawg.sixpack

All-Conference
Apr 10, 2009
2,501
2,434
113
I'm not sure if you're serious, but their record is 51-12 (23-7), they are the SEC regular season and tournament champions, and they are headed to Omaha as the favorites to win it all. So yea, if our team was having that kind of season, I would be totally fine with them having plenty of swagger.

That said, I still don't think I would trade O'Connor for Johnson.
Yes, I’m serious. They are a dåmn good team, but they act like a bunch of doùchebags. Don’t want to see that kind of shıt from any State team.

Also, STLDawg said we should’ve hired Wes Johnson (which is what my original reply was referencing). Glad to see you disagree with his statement.
 
  • Like
Reactions: patdog

dickiedawg

All-Conference
Feb 22, 2008
4,402
1,244
113
It’s a B+, which seems to be a runaway plurality of votes.
A bad matchup was all that kept us from Omaha. But the reason we had a bad matchup is because we really sputtered down the stretch. Just couldn’t get it done when it counted.
 

Xenomorph

All-American
Feb 15, 2007
15,818
9,904
113
What would you grade Bianco?
Bianco also gets a C.. perhaps a C+

9th in the SEC
0-4 against his rival.

Omaha?.. yes but after today 31% of all SEC teams are in Omaha.

The game has changed. It’s not 1988 anymore. The CWS isn’t the bar it used to be. Wichita State ain’t walking thru that door.
 
  • Like
Reactions: FloodDawg

johnson86-1

All-American
Aug 22, 2012
14,688
5,170
113
Can’t be less than a B+ hosting and winning a regional. There may be a time where repeatedly falling short in a super gets a grade less than that, but it’s not in the first year.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MaxwellSmart

Theconnormead

Senior
Jan 26, 2023
346
528
93
What do you think he deserves for year 1?


I'd give him an A- for getting us to a super.
I'd give him a B+. It would have been a solid A if we hadn't gotten swept by Tennessee and had managed to split the final two series.

He definitely left some meat on the bone, but he also hosted a regional in his first year. He put a quality product on the field and showed that he holds his players accountable.

In a season and postseason filled with clown shows and unnecessary antics, outside of a few bat flips, our players never seemed to disrespect their opponents and represented the university well. That matters, and I think it's a reflection of the culture he's building.

Feel like baseball is clearly trending in the right direction, while the other two major sports seem to be stuck in a downward spiral.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Darryl Steight

Bulldog Bruce

All-American
Nov 1, 2007
4,946
5,874
113
The outcome is what it is. This season I watched 3/4s of our games. I did not see any glaring mistakes over and over again. I did not see any batters just killing themselves with the wrong approach. I sit here today thinking there were guys on the bench that deserve to be starters but there wasn't enough room for them to get on the field. That was not the case with pitching.

Defense needs to improve. Ace hurt us in the field this last game. Gerigh was almost Chuck Knobloch at times. And the shortstops were just serviceable. Catching killed us in a few games though it did improve. Outfield play was fine.

This new era is such a crapshoot. We will mostly have a new lineup next season. I hope we have a more diverse pitching staff instead of every pitcher throwing mid 90s with a slider and some sort of changeup. They were just the same pitcher no matter what number they wore.
 
Last edited:

onewoof

Heisman
Mar 4, 2008
15,835
14,313
113
Funny how the expectations change in the wake of a loss in a Super. Grading right after a loss in the Super isn't the time. It would have been an A at the start of the season to make a Super at all.

Re-grade after Georgia wins the natty.

And they say women are the overly emotional ones
 
  • Like
Reactions: Darryl Steight

OG Goat Holder

Heisman
Sep 30, 2022
12,990
11,932
113
Bianco also gets a C.. perhaps a C+

9th in the SEC
0-4 against his rival.

Omaha?.. yes but after today 31% of all SEC teams are in Omaha.

The game has changed. It’s not 1988 anymore. The CWS isn’t the bar it used to be. Wichita State ain’t walking thru that door.
So you're saying finishing mid-SEC is bad.....but then also admitting that most of the Omaha teams are SEC (and it's about to be 50%).

And instead of saying the SEC is an elite conference, you are saying well finishing Top 8 is not what it used to be.

Time to give this argument up, pal.
 

Xenomorph

All-American
Feb 15, 2007
15,818
9,904
113
So you're saying finishing mid-SEC is bad.....but then also admitting that most of the Omaha teams are SEC (and it's about to be 50%).

And instead of saying the SEC is an elite conference, you are saying well finishing Top 8 is not what it used to be.

Time to give this argument up, pal.
I'm saying we finished in the middle of the pack in the SEC. And a middle grade is a C.

I don't see what's hard to understand about that.
 
  • Like
Reactions: theoriginalSALTYdog

DoggieDaddy13

All-Conference
Dec 23, 2017
3,649
2,027
113
Going B+

We were ranked high when the season started and - even though I was doubtful - it was deserved.

Our bats and our bullpen looked really solid. We lost Ryan and our bullpen never seemed to improve - and were downright awful at times.

We did as well as I hoped.

Probably could have beaten more than half of the Super Regional teams in a three games (maybe OM, but I'm not sure).

We just got the hot team in the Super Regional. We were competitive - we scored enough runs to win.

But again, we have to get better pitching all around.
 
  • Like
Reactions: FloodDawg

40mikemike

Senior
Sep 29, 2022
400
833
93
B. He did a good job of assembling a talented line up. Pitching left a lot to be desired. Same mistakes bit him/us in the a$$ multiple times throughout the season. Making a super regional isn’t easy though and he gets credit for keeping his team focused throughout the season and working with what he had on the roster. All I really want to see from him this off season is a commitment to bring in better pitchers while adding to the talent in the line up. I just want to see that he sees the shortcomings from this season and addresses them.
 
  • Like
Reactions: FloodDawg

ronpolk

All-American
May 6, 2009
9,303
5,055
113
Bianco also gets a C.. perhaps a C+

9th in the SEC
0-4 against his rival.

Omaha?.. yes but after today 31% of all SEC teams are in Omaha.

The game has changed. It’s not 1988 anymore. The CWS isn’t the bar it used to be. Wichita State ain’t walking thru that door.
So if we would have won the sec and got bounced in the regionals you’d give a higher grade? Your reply makes no sense. Give me post season success over regular season any day
 

OG Goat Holder

Heisman
Sep 30, 2022
12,990
11,932
113
I'm saying we finished in the middle of the pack in the SEC. And a middle grade is a C.

I don't see what's hard to understand about that.
That's a bad grade scale. 62% of the Top-8 Omaha field (I forgot OU above when I said 50). is SEC. That means SEC is elite.

Finishing 8/9 in the SEC is akin to top 16 in the country. Maybe even higher.

Terrible logic.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ronpolk