Dear Editor,
University of South Carolina baseball coach Chad Holbrook is a wonderful person and he is a great recruiter of talent. So was former Gamecock football coach Brad Scott when he came from two national championships as offense coordinator at Florida State. Scott came to USC and showed everyone that his potential was achieved as an assistant – and that he didn’t have what it took to be a head coach.
There is no shame in being a great assistant and not having what it takes to be a head coach. Holbrook has proven the same thing. He is a great recruiter and assistant, but should not be a head coach. He does not motivate his players to perform. With the talent he has, the Gamecocks should be among the elite in college baseball. Instead, they can’t finish games and can’t hit as was advertised and they continue to get worse and worse behind the plate.
Ray Tanner‘s teams had the mentality that they refused to lose. It was even their motto in 2010, when they won their first national championship. Tanner told them to “win anyway” – and they did.
Every year Holbrook has talked about how good they were going to be but he just doesn’t know how to manage the talent he recruits. The point that Tanner will bring up about this year is the injuries. That is BOGUS!! Tyler Johnson came back from injury and several times stunk it up. The loss of Clarke Schmidt was unfortunate, but it didn’t stop them from consistently being in a position to win and losing anyway. In my opinion, USC president Harris Pastides should overrule Tanner and get rid of Holbrook now before even the recruiting for this once powerful team goes by the wayside. It is still to be determined if Ray knows how to pick good coaches. I say, listen to the fans and alumni who have put up with this long enough. Dump Holbrook and move on.
Sincerely,
Jason Britton
Gaston, S.C.
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Dear Editor,
Teams reflect the personality of the head coach. Chad Holbrook stands in the dugout with arms crossed pouting. His players do the same. College sports are all about emotion there is no fun, no fight, no rally caps, or team-made mascots on this squad. They all look like they gave up weeks ago and Holbrook looks like he would rather be somewhere else.
Right now Holbrook is poison to this team.
Ray Tanner has done little as far as managing the coaches under him. It is time to send a message to everyone he is not going to stand for failure anymore. We as Carolina fans demand better.
Sincerely,
David Norris
Pawleys Island, S.C.
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SIC SEZ …
Jason and David: Thanks for you letters. As you may know, this website has defended Holbrook in years past – including after the disastrous 2015 season. Having said that, I think it’s clear at this point that a change needs to be made. Additionally, I believe it was wrong for Pastides and the USC board to give Tanner a contract extension based on the success of the school’s basketball programs – both of which are thriving under coaches hired by his successor, Eric Hyman.
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