Wow..We Stink

[eu96]

I know Kennedy has his defenders on here in force, however those defenders are slowly becoming apologists. Elon baseball has been flat out mediocre for a number of seasons now. However, this year we are flat out terrible. 1-8 in conf?? Kinda tough watching programs like Campbell start to run laps around us. Man, Elon athletics are struggling right now

[euphoenix99]

No argument from me on how bad they are this year. I've gotten so accustomed to Kennedy working magic, but this season is a lost cause. The pitching is terrible. Not sure how much of that can attributed to the new pitching coach or if it's just a whiff on recruiting. I know they lost one of the weekend starters in his first game of the season, but that doesn't explain how bad everyone else is.

With all that said, they did just finish second in the 7th ranked conference (RPI) last season, however they haven't been to the NCAA tourney since joining the CAA. I get both sides of it. There are a lot of lingering problems in Elon athletics and in my opinion Kennedy isn't one of them at the moment.

A separate observation I was discussing with someone this past weekend. It seems there's a direct correlation between facility upgrades and teams getting worse. Women's basketball was killing it the final years in Alumni and have been mediocre to bad since moving into Schar. Men's hoops and volleyball haven't received the anticipated bump that typically comes with better facilities. Softball has a great facility, but can't seem to be anything better than a .500 team. Baseball finally got some well-deserved upgrades and it looks like we're on pace for one of the worst seasons in D1. The facility upgrades are great, but they aren't translating into success.

Go Phoenix!

[eu96]

I disagree somewhat about Kennedy. I think Elon has been on a glide slope towards mediocrity for some time now. The question is where is the bottom? And are we going to simply wait till we hit it, or are we going to honest and be proactive.

There is always a danger in comparison. However, a natural measuring stick is HPU, everyone’s favorite school to roll our eyes at. I’m guilty of it to. I think Nido is a used car salesman. The school is leveraged to the hilt financially. But the school is succeeding, and a big part of that is their athletics program. Their facilities are nice, as are ours. However, they have a 100% commitment from their administration to have winning teams. And that commitment manifests itself into results. They fired their basketball coach a few years ago about 7 games!!! Don’t tell me Nido didn’t sign off on that . And look at the results…HPU basketball has risen to heights we could only dream off. Soccer, lacrosse, baseball, they are passing us as well. At this rate, they won’t be in the Big South much longer.
HPU understands sports are the “front porch” of any university. Elon to say the least, does not share this mentality.

[euphoenix99]

Apr 10, 2024 8:39:15 GMT -5 eu96 said:

I disagree somewhat about Kennedy. I think Elon has been on a glide slope towards mediocrity for some time now. The question is where is the bottom? And are we going to simply wait till we hit it, or are we going to honest and be proactive.

There is always a danger in comparison. However, a natural measuring stick is HPU, everyone’s favorite school to roll our eyes at. I’m guilty of it to. I think Nido is a used car salesman. The school is leveraged to the hilt financially. But the school is succeeding, and a big part of that is their athletics program. Their facilities are nice, as are ours. However, they have a 100% commitment from their administration to have winning teams. And that commitment manifests itself into results. They fired their basketball coach a few years ago about 7 games!!! Don’t tell me Nido didn’t sign off on that . And look at the results…HPU basketball has risen to heights we could only dream off. Soccer, lacrosse, baseball, they are passing us as well. At this rate, they won’t be in the Big South much longer.
HPU understands sports are the “front porch” of any university. Elon to say the least, does not share this mentality.

Last night didn't help my case. No hit and run ruled in the same game. Just when I thought things couldn't get worse. That's what I get for trying to be positive.

I agree on your comparison. Very few schools at our level do everything well, but we don't seem to be doing anything well. Schools that look just like us are simply doing it better. Furman, Wofford, Samford for sure and Campbell and HPU to some extent. There's at least a vibe of being pointed in the right direction at those schools. Right now Elon's vision seems to be let's come back next year with zero changes and hope things get better. Some of these coaches have nowhere to go but up, which is even more concerning because it'll look like progress is being made.

Snapshot of team sports to date:
Football: 6-5
Men's Soccer: 6-8-4
Women's Soccer: 3-9-5
Volleyball: 5-22
Men's Hoops: 13-19
Women's Hoops: 11-21
Softball: 14-24
Baseball: 11-21
Lacrosse: 6-7

We're clearly not doing it right and we're essentially giving Strawley 2 years before she has to do anything about it. No one expects a scorched earth clean house approach, but there is so much low hanging fruit and we continue to slow walk everything.

Go Phoenix!