Pasquale out as a baseball coach

[ysuindy]

WFMJ reporting that Rich Pasquale is out as YSU baseball coach

21 WFMJ Sports ‏@21WFMJSports
BREAKING NEWS: YSU does not renew contract of baseball coach Rich Pasquale.


I don't think anyone can be surprised at this news.  Even though the team played better late in the season, simply put this season was a debacle and often an embarrassment.  I have no idea what resources the baseball program has relative to its peers (and probably not enough), but you can't give up more than 30 runs in a game and have lengthy losing streaks.

It will be interesting to see if any greater commitment is made to the new coach, but I'm not holding my breath.

[Wick250]

Indy,

You can confirm this from our mutual friend at WFMJ, but I distinctly remember him stating that Florak quit out of frustration over the small baseball budget.  That was especially ridiculous as that man sent player after player into professional baseball.  Allowing for a player here and there, the kids recruited by Pasquale were remarkably inferior.

The odds of an increase in the baseball budget for a new coach are zero.  Every department in the university is experiencing cutbacks, and that will include athletics.  So unless money is moved internally from administration to coaching (and we know that will never happen) the new guy will be working with the same funding or even less.  Under these conditions, we can rule out anyone with experience and a good track record.  All signs point to a very young coach who will embrace the opportunity and not be troubled over the low level of funding.

[ysufan0505]

START RECRUITING THIS AREA

[Wick250]

0505,

Many American baseball players today come from the middle and upper middle class.  These families have some money, and these kids want to go to residential party schools.  On the alcohol and drug index, YSU comes up deficient every time.  And that is not really a bad thing.

[IAA Fan]

Youngstown

Rich Pasquale has been relieved as head baseball coach at Youngstown State.

Athletic director Ron Strollo made the announcement on Thursday in a release.

A national search to replace Pasquale, who was the Penguins’ coach from 2008-12, will begin immediately.

“I want to thank Rich for his service to our department, the university and the community in his five seasons as our head baseball coach,” Strollo said in the release.

“We experienced several successes under his direction, and we are looking forward to experiencing many successes in the future.

“The expectation for all of our programs is to compete for championships, and I’m confident that we have made significant strides to place our baseball program at that level. We have very attractive facilities in Eastwood Field and the Watson and Tressel Training Site, and, combined with enhanced resources, we feel strongly that this program can attain success quickly,” Strollo added.

The Penguins went 86-187 under Pasquale. They were 11-44 in 2012 but finished third in the Horizon League tournament.

“I appreciate the opportunity that Youngstown State gave me to coach at the Division I level,” Pasquale said. “I was fortunate to coach and develop some great young men both on and off the field, and I thoroughly enjoyed who I worked with.”

Pasquale was the Horizon League co-coach of the year in 2008 when the Penguins won 23 wins and were 13-12 in league play, were both highs for his tenure.

Three YSU players were drafted during Pasquale’s tenure, including two in the same season for the first time in program history. Seven players earned first-team all-league accolades.

[IAA Fan]

I wonder if coach Antush is ready to retire from Hickory? Well-liked, and skilled. Nice resume ...head-coach at Marshall.

[axiom]

I believe a name change for the university's athletic department is in order - Coaching Graveyard U

[IAA Fan]

We are not that different than any other school our size Axiom. We are growing ...quite a bit actually. When you look at where some coaches end up after they leave here ...especially in football ...it is easy to say that we have become a viable choice for many prospective coaches. Paquale had the resume, and was a solid hire for what we were looking for ...he was not able to bring results.

Coaching at a smaller school is a "catch-22". On one hand, the smaller school is not going to be able to offer what a larger program can. The amount they can afford is what is needed for an "entry-level" head-coaching position. On the other hand, for a small program to be successful, it needs head-coaching experience that can only be gained by an individual asking for a larger salary. This is not anything new, nor unique to YSU.

Baseball is not the high-priority sport in the mid-west. If we were located in CA, we would have a dozen former MLB assistants and players applying for a chance at a DI coaching job. I was born in California, and did not own a football until I was 13, and moved to Ohio. I grew up in the shadows of the Dodgers and Angels ...we had season tickets for the Angels, and played two little-league baseball seasons a year.

If can digress ...One of the highlights of my childhood was visiting Ohio in 1972, (my father was interviewing for a job with YSU) and going with my dad and brothers to Three-Rivers to see the Bucs and Reds play in the post-season. The next weekend, I saw my first YSU football game at Fitch. In the same couple of weeks, I saw Clemente & Stargell, as well as the Big-Red machine, and Ron Jaworski. Bench homered, in the ninth to take it into extra innings and then the Reds won it on a wild-pitch steal. I then remember that my dad took me to the YSU game and said that the QB was good enough to play in the NFL ...a league which I barely new existed, let alone cared about. Just a different climate, and different sports priorities.

However, when a college goes from $250k a year in total football coaching salaries, to that much for the HC alone ...it is no graveyard. Other sports are going to benefit, and suffer. Ron Strollo is trying to give us what he knows we want ...I respect that.

[axiom]

Then throw all the money at the football program and let the other sports die.

[IAA Fan]

Then throw all the money at the football program and let the other sports die.

Cannot do that. Each scholarship on the men's side has a Title-IX matching requirement on the ladies. Furthermore, we have additional NCAA, MVFC, and Horizon requirements that include scholarship levels. Football fields 63 male scholarships. Which is why many basketball schools drop football. Or like Butler, they go non-scholarship and field a team with grant monies and other sport scholarship $$ and players.

Besides, we did let many sports die. Most of them are mens.  YSU no longer has men's swimming, rifle, wrestling, soccer, or gymnastics. We may have had Lacrosse at one point as well, I know we had women's Field Hockey

[ysufan0505]

I saw Boardman star catcher signed with YSU to play. Good local pickup. He was named Federal League POY and batted .418 with 14 RBIs this season. Also has a cannon for an arm behind the plate. 

[ysuindy]

Has anything heard anything about the timeline for a replacement?  This is the summer showcase season, chances to evaluate players. 

 

[ysuindy]

I understand that you can take most Twitter reports with a grain of salt, but is anyone really surprised to read this

https://twitter.com/#!/SkippersDugout

Skippers Dugout ‏@SkippersDugout
Heard some #Youngstown State names today. Crazy thing is talking with some coaches it sounds like nobody wants that job! #makechange

[Wick250]

The coaching fraternity knows exactly how Strollo treated Florak.  Comments like this should not surprise anybody.  I stand by my prediction made earlier in this thread.  Olympic sports will continue to be an embarrassment until the culture changes within the athletic department. 

[ItalianPenguin]

Believe what you want, but interviews are going on this week and I'm told that the field of candidates was much stronger than anticipated.