Guest BillikenReport Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 http://saintlouis.scout.com/2/649904.html - Nate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 Thanks, Nate. Do you think he has a chance? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 i would hope we didnt fire our baseball coach to hire a high school coach. if the guy wants to be an assistant for the next coach and learn the ropes of college recruiting and such that would be fine. but what does that say for our program's vision if the next baseball coach is a high school coach? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jp18 Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 The SLU softball coach had four years of DIII coaching experience and coached club ball for years. He just finished with the most wins in school history for softball. I'm sure not that many were too excited about the hire at the time. So I don't think I would discount a high school coach. If you know the area, you can win in St. Louis. There is plenty of talent here to produce a good baseball and softball team for SLU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NashvilleBilliken Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 I completely disagree. I'm not any college baseball expert, but IMO, we don't need some high dollar guy. He is obviously a good coach by his high school resume. He knows the area really well. He's got a load of pro experience. He holds SLU as his TOP job. What more could you really ask for. Your number 1 complaint over the past 5 years has been our coach doesn't recruit locally. This guy wants to focus on that. He seems really pumped about the job...practically saying it's his dream job. I say hire the guy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 That's kind of what I was thinking. I would think his knowledge of the local h.s. baseball scene would be very beneficial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 division III COLLEGE COACH is not a high school coach. plus, if you know anything about coach conway, he has been an extremely active area select softball figure. thereby staying extremely close to the summer scene and interacting with players from many programs. does this vianny high school baseball coach have division III experience? does he participate in any summer baseball aside from vianny baseball? the comparison isnt even close of conway and this vianny coach. the better comparison would be to talk about the summer coach for that select pirates team that travels all over the midwest all summer long with an area all-star team. that too would be a stretch, however that guy would at least have the experience of dealing with kids from various programs and recruiting the best kids every year to play on his traveling all-star team. hopefully we hire a quality experienced college coach or an assistant from a successful division one program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 he knows the area well? i bet he has never seen the east side kids play. he might know the suburbs because his teams face each other, but that doesnt cover the entire metro area. second, baseball is a little tricky because of the limited scholarships. that desire to move up doesnt cover having to sell kids on why they take a 1/2 scholarship plus student loans and grants to go to an expensive slu over say missouri state who has gotten to the college world series multiple times and is a lot less expensive. hey maybe the guy is the next great college coach. but doesnt it make more sense he lobbies for an assistant coach job first and learn the nuances of college baseball from the inside first before throwing him to the top spot? to go from high school baseball coach to college coach is probably harder to do than basketball because of the financing issues and the sheer number of players needed to complete a roster. the last thing we should be considering is to try to find that needle in the haystack candidate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BillikenReport Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 The St. Louis area is loaded with baseball talent. If you don't believe me, please look at the pitcher who was drafted in the first round last spring (Max Scherzer), the two pitchers picked in the first round yesterday (Ross Detwiler and Nick Schmidt) and look up the two pitchers who will be first-round picks next year (Wichita State's Aaron Shafer from Troy HS and Holt's Tim Melville). That's five first-round MLB draft picks in three years, not to mention the high number of Division I players the area produces annually. If you just look at the players Steve Bieser has helped develop in the last few years, like Schmidt, Jason Hagerty (University of Miami), Jim Klocke (Southeast Missouri State), Josh Syberg (SEMO) and Dave Stewart (Nebraska), you have more talent there than the SLU program has had in recent seasons. The guy can coach. He was a catcher in professional baseball for 13 years. When he retired he moved back home. He wanted to be in the St. Louis area. He took a job at a strong high school program, worked his way up to head coach, won two state titles in a three-year period and produced several Division I players as well as a first-round draft pick. Yeah, that guy certainly doesn't deserve a look for a college coaching job. It wasn't that long ago that some of the best coaches in the pro and college ranks got their starts coaching high school sports. It's not as common today, especially in football and basketball, but discounting a guy because he's a high school coach is a mistake. Bieser will be a successful college coach, whether it's at SLU or SEMO or wherever. All the guy wants right now is a chance to interview for the position. If he can sell his vision for the program, give the guy a chance. If he can't sell himself to whoever is making the decision, there's nothing lost in bringing him in for an interview. - Nate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoveforVouk Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 The coach of the softball team is John Conway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 he'd make a great assistant coach for the next head coach. why not pick neil fiala the head coach over at swic? there is a man who has indeed experienced recruiting, he has taken swic teams deep in the national tourney, he also has played at the major league level and he has produced players that have went on to pro careers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 nm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest BillikenReport Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 >why not pick neil fiala the head coach over at swic? there >is a man who has indeed experienced recruiting, he has taken >swic teams deep in the national tourney, he also has played >at the major league level and he has produced players that >have went on to pro careers. Fiala might not be a bad choice either. I don't know how long he's been coaching or how old he is. I know Bieser still has a lot of years of coaching left and wants to finish his career at somewhere like SLU. - Nate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoveforVouk Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 Isn't your daughter a fairly successful high school softball player? What are the chances she decides to suit up for Coach Conway in the future? Conway was a tremendous hire for the softball program. This may have been his first Division I coaching job, but the guy has an extremely impressive resume and he was a huge step up from Malloy(?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoveforVouk Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 I think Fiala would be a great hire. There is a guy with major league playing experience, a ton of coaching experience, and he has had a lot of success at SWIC over the past ten or so years. I am under the impression that Fiala played in the late 70s and early 80s and I think he would be able to give SLU some quality years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 conway has sent her a couple of e-mails, but i suspect that most of the pitchers on the rosters of the college exposure tourney she played in might have gotten such an e-mail. so not sure if he really has seen her or not. she is too young to have been contacted directly yet as she just completed her sophomore year. she will go to a college that has bio-medical engineering. coincidentally, slu has that major. she isnt as concerned about the softball program as she is about the academics. she has told us that if wash u offers her a full academic ride she would break family tradition and head there instead of slu. that said, i think she would like to continue pitching in college if the opportunity presents itself. washington u just finished second in the d-3 national softball tourney. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 i am guessing neil is about 50. maybe a year or two older. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LoveforVouk Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 Fiala led Meramec to the Junior College World Series in 1975 so that would make him right around 50. I like that call Roy, Fiala would be a great hire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 fan Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 We played ball together in the old semi-pro league, when we were in college. He's about my age, 57, maybe 56. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyRican Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 Fiala would be awful hire, just ask anyone who has played for him. I would have to boycott SLU baseball even as an alumni. He would not be a good fit for the program or the university. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Box and Won Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 Fiala will be 51 in August. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 if not fiala, then another long time successful juco coach would be a better hire than a high school coach. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slu72 fan Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 He was a cocky, jerk then. Good ballplayer, though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billiken_roy Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 he still is but he wins and he gets players. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jp18 Posted June 8, 2007 Share Posted June 8, 2007 DIII is a totally different ball game than DI. I don't think that type of experience is much better than high school - that is all I'm saying. I know it is about recruiting and getting players, but I'm sure the Vianney coach has plenty of connections to the area. I just wouldn't discount a coach because he has no college coaching experience. As for Conway, he was a good hire for SLU but I know he applied for the Webster U. job before the SLU one and didn't get that. So don't think these jobs at SLU (baseball and softball) are that coveted by area coaches. He couldn't get a DIII job at the same school in his conference. I think SLU should get the best, young candidate they can get. Don't expect a huge splash with this hire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.