New baseball coach Monte Lee is starting to settle into his new life at Clemson, and that includes figuring out who will be playing and pitching for him next spring.
“I’m essentially a first-year head coach, again,” Lee said on Friday in an exclusive interview with The Clemson Insider. “I have not been in this situation in seven years when I went to Charleston as a first-year head coach.”
Lee, who spent the last seven years running the program at the College of Charleston, feels like a first-year head coach because he has a new group of coaches that he has not coached with. He is also at a new place with new players.
“We are trying to learn about each other and I’m going to have to learn a lot about them,” he said. “But I think in the first year, the one thing I think we can do is that we can really, really grab their attention when it comes to how we want them to play and what is important to us.”
In his first year, Lee wants to build a fence up around Doug Kingsmore Stadium and keep his plays inside, sort of speak. He feels like in year one he will be able to teach his players the way he really wants to do things.
“We will get their attention, probably in year one, better than any year that I will be here,” he said. “The biggest message we will send is that all the guys that maybe did not get a great opportunity in the past, ‘You have a chance to show me what you can do.’
“I have no preconceived notions of who you are and what you can do. If you want to be a Friday night starter then you have a chance to show me you can be the Friday night starter. I don’t have any opinion of you because I have not seen you pitch or compete so it is going to be wide open. The competition piece will be huge this fall because every kid on this roster and on this team will get a chance to show me what they can do.”
Don’t get Lee wrong. He knows who All-American catcher Chris Okey is. He knows who Eli White is. He knows who Chase Pinder is. He knows who Weston Wilson is. He knows who Reed Rohlman is. Those guys have proven themselves, but he wants them and everyone else to know that doesn’t mean the job is theirs. He wants them to work for it, too.
“I’m sure there are a few guys I’m leaving out just because I don’t know the team that well,” Lee said. “But I know that every guy on that roster is going to get an opportunity. You are going to get a great opportunity to show me what you can do, and my new coaching staff will form our opinions of you so it is a great opportunity for everyone on this roster.”
Lee says the Tigers are going to have to be better when it comes to pitching and fielding. He understands he has to rebuild his starting rotation and has to get more out of his bullpen than the old coaching staff got last year.
“We are going to have maximize what we do on the mound and on defense,” he said. “We cannot field .959. If you have a pitching staff that is not a proven pitching staff… We are going to teach guys to throw strikes. If you throw strikes you have a chance to pitch at Clemson this year. The guys behind you, we have to catch the baseball.
“If you bring the ability of throwing strikes and playing defense to the field every day, you limit the amount of free passes the other team has. Free passes are what kill you in baseball. That’s when you beat yourself.
“In year one, my biggest message is going to be, ‘Force the other team to beat us. Don’t beat yourself. We have to throw strikes and catch the baseball.’ If we do that then we have a chance to be in every single ballgame and win the game.”