The last five days have been extremely hectic ones for new Clemson coach Monte Lee. Not only is he trying to build his coaching staff, talk to returning players, the incoming freshmen and recruits, but he is also trying to find a home in the Clemson area and move his family up from Charleston.

“I have been working basically from seven a.m. to one a.m. every single day,” he said. “I’m on the phone constantly, talking to recruits and the different folks here at Clemson and trying to get acclimated with everything here, along with trying to round out my coaching staff.

“That’s the priority. I have to make sure I get that hire right and that guy can hit the ground running in recruiting along with Bradley (LeCroy).”

The hire Lee is talking about will be for his new pitching coach. His old pitching coach, Matt Heath, has since been named has his successor at the College of Charleston. Lee admitted following Monday’s press conference at Clemson that UNC-Wilmington’s Matt Williams is on a short list of coaches he is considering for the pitching coach position.

Once Lee gets a new pitching coach, he hopes to get him on the road recruiting as soon as possible. Lee, who says he is the best recruiter in the state of South Carolina, says Clemson has a lot to sell to a lot of good ballplayers out there, most importantly the new players’ facility that will open up in the fall.

“The two most important things when it comes to recruiting are, you have to have the facility that you can recruit to and you have to have the facility you can give the student athlete the best experience that he can have,” Lee said. “There is no question we have that here at Clemson.

“I think you can sell the school and you can sell the facility and the program here. We have all the resources that we need to be very successful.”

This past week has been a humbling experience for Lee. He said he never imagined what it might be like to be the head coach at program like Clemson’s, which has so much history and tradition.

“I’m extremely excited and ready to hit the ground running, mostly recruiting,” he said. “I’m trying my best to make communication with all the current players, returning players, incoming players, and the whole nine (yards).”

One thing Lee hopes to get accomplished in the next few days is to get acquainted with all the returning players while getting a basic understanding of who they are and what they can and cannot do.

“I want these guys to understand with me coming in that whatever happened in the past is in the past. We have to move forward and be excited about the opportunity of this year,” the Tigers’ new coach said. “We have to live in the now. The biggest thing about last year for me is just understanding who played where, who did what, what their strength and weaknesses are.

“I just want to learn as much as I can about the players and their strength and their weaknesses so we can do everything we can to make them successful.”