M_A said:
wilmwolf80 said:
There seem to be a lot of folks that have the mindset that the success we've had has been in spite of Avent, and that he's holding us back from breaking through. But when you look at the disadvantages we've had facilities wise, in my mind the success has been because of him and his staffs, not in spite of it.
I mean, the guy we had before Avent was .694 overall and 32 games over .500 in the ACC after 9 years then went on to win a couple CWS' at his next stop. Avent, over a much longer career, is at .627 overall and is 24 games over .500 in the ACC. Our only other coach since the 60s is Sammy Esposito who I cant find the ACC record for but was .669 overall
I'd guess we could hire a worse coach than Avent because sometimes you just **** up and hire James Johnson but most likely we'll get another guy who wins 60-70% of his games and treads slightly above water in the league but just like you sometimes have bad luck and hire a worse coach than your norm you can also have good luck and hire a better coach
Esposito's teams were very good at times. Mike Caldwell and Tim Stoddard anchored two of the better ones. Esposito's team's style were very different than Avent's style. More defense and pitching and less power bats. Bunting often and stealing bases much more often.
The 1968 team made it Omaha. They lost to eventual champion USC in the semifinals.
Best I can calculate 175-117, rounds to 60% in the ACC. I think that counts games in the ACC tournament. Overall, the 513 wins ranks him second all-time. By the way, Sam's teams won the 1973, 1974 and 1975 ACC tournaments. They went on the road to Columbia and Starkville twice losing out before Omaha.
1986 team made the NCAA's but lost two straight.
Interesting fact, NC State has not had a losing season in baseball since 1966.
