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A baseball coach caught in a pickle

by John Clendenon

Because Knoxville likes to name campus streets for jocks, Lindsey Nelson Stadium is located at the corner of Todd Helton Drive. For six bucks and a chairback seat, you get taped pre-game videos of Helton and Nelson on the new JumboTron scoreboard in right-centerfield welcoming fans to UT baseball games. It’s a little eerie watching Nelson talk, because the Tennessee broadcasting legend died nine years ago, about the same time Helton was leading the Vols to the 1995 College World Series in Omaha.

You could call it the golden era of UT baseball. Helton, a Central High product, was named Baseball America magazine’s national college player of the year, and Rod Delmonico was selected national coach of the year as the Vols won their second straight Southeastern Conference title. After Helton left for the Colorado Rockies, the Vols advanced to the NCAA regionals in 1996-97 behind pitcher R.A. Dickey, now with the Texas Rangers.

Since 1998, however, the bottom has dropped out. The exception was three years ago when shortstop Chris Burke sparked UT to Omaha for the second time in Delmonico’s 14-year tenure. The cold, hard facts: the Vols haven’t even qualified for the SEC tournament in five of the last six years. Eight of the SEC’s 12 teams go, and you must make a conference tournament to be picked for an NCAA regional, the road to Omaha.

This is a no-excuses year for the 45-year-old Delmonico, because he returns seven position starters, a veteran pitching staff which combined for the team’s 31 wins last season, and adds impact closer Scot Drucker. So far, so good, but Delmonico is lucky; he’s still got a job after putting a mediocre product on the field five of the last six seasons. He caught a break in the transition from Doug Dickey to new men’s athletic director Mike Hamilton last May.

Delmonico claims he doesn’t feel any undue pressure “because we’re gonna win, and pressure has always been part of the game anyway.” He says team goals never change.

“Our number one goal is always Omaha—I wanna go. But let’s win something. There are four things you can win—the SEC East, the SEC tournament, an NCAA regional, and the College World Series. It’s been very disappointing not getting to the regionals.”

The SEC is an absolute beast, best in the country, with seven teams ranked in Baseball America’s top 25. The Vols are 17th after an impressive 9-3 SEC start, but a back-loaded schedule remains with six difficult weekend series.

On deck: No. 8 Ole Miss in Oxford Friday night. When a homer like Channel 10’s Mark Packer talks about Omaha, consider the source.

Part of the solution may be recruiting, always a tricky proposition for a college baseball coach. Delmonico has 11.7 scholarships to parcel among 25-30 players. A prospect could be the second coming of Barry Bonds and still only get a 60 percent ride. Do the math. Then a coach has to worry if all the players he signs will make it to campus after the June draft of high school and college-eligible talent by the major leagues. That’s not even including low SAT scores, felony convictions and uncooperative girlfriends as factors.

A case in point is high school sensation Jay Rainville of Pawtucket, R.I. The pitcher, who Delmonico calls “a program changer,” signed with UT but is expected to be one of the first 10 players selected in the draft. Jeff Muir, UT baseball’s sports information department whiz, says top 10 picks rarely turn down lucrative contracts from major league teams. Rainville will probably be offered at least $1.5 million, so don’t expect to ever see the kid throwing cut fastballs at Lindsey Nelson. Odds are better that you’d watch Pee Wee Herman host one of Dubya’s campaign fundraisers.

Of more discomfort to Delmonico may be the fate of his friend Andy Lopez in Gainesville three years ago. Florida AD Jeremy Foley fired Lopez, who won the national title in 1992 at Pepperdine, after what many observers considered a productive seven seasons with the Gators. The move sent shockwaves through the SEC coaching fraternity because all Lopez did was take Florida to two College World Series, five NCAA regionals and two SEC titles.

Foley felt the Gators weren’t advancing far enough in the regionals. Lopez quickly surfaced as the coach at Arizona, but the point was made. A coach has to consistently produce in the business that is big-time college athletics, and that includes keeping the fans interested. Attendance at UT games last season was down 874 per game from the all-time high of 2,137 in 1997.

Sometimes change is for the better after, say, 15 years...for all parties.

Delmonico is a good coach, but maybe it’s time for him to go if the Vols waste the potential of this season. More chairback seats and JumboTron scoreboards aren’t the answer.

John Clendenon is a former executive sports editor of the Atlanta Constitution, the Chicago Sun-Times and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

April 15, 2004 • Vol. 14, No. 16 © 2004 Metro Pulse