Baseball Skipper Resigns

 Big news out of Arlington on Monday for the baseball team as Head Coach Darin Thomas announced he was resigning after a 15-39 season, which saw the worst winning percentage and the highest number of losses since 2007. Overall, 2022 ranks as the second worst in losses, tied with 1977 (2007 saw 40) and is the fourth worst winning percentage.

I detailed earlier how young the team was, but UTA has had young teams before. I'm not sure what happened, but this was the second losing season in a row. I'm not sure how much of a factor that played in Coach Thomas' decision.

What I'm also not sure of is what was in play in the background. I know a lot of fans were ready for a change. Given how Athletic Director Jim Baker canned Men's Basketball Coach Scott Cross for not making the NCAA's, it seemed odd how baseball was allowed to stay in a field of mediocrity.

Consider the following two trends.

• Since joining the Sun Belt, only one team finished strong, 2014. In that year, UTA finished the year winning ten of its last 11 games. That upped the overall record to 33-26. 
• In 2015, UTA went 1-4 its last five games to finish 24-32. 
• In 2016 it was a 2-4 finish.
• The slide was worse in 2017, a 29-18 start finished 30-25, as they went 1-7 over the last eight games. 
• 2018 was more drastic with a 3-18 end-season-slide to finish 22-35.
• 2019 had the worst impact as UTA was on pace for a potential at-large regional. After a 28-13 start, the Mavericks under Thomas' guidance would go 4-13 the remainder of the season to finish 32-26.
• 2020 was prematurely ceased due to COVID restrictions. UTA started 12-4.
• Last year, UTA went 4-7 over its last 11 to finish 27-30.
• This year, no particular part of the season was chock full of wins, but the Mavericks went 5-14 in April and 2-9 in May.

The second was Coach Thomas' record in the Sun Belt tournament. While certainly the tournament itself is part and parcel a part of the poor finishes listed above, it does deserve its own focus.

Out of a possible nine Sun Belt seasons, UTA won more than one game in the post-season tourney only twice. They went 3-1 in 2014 in making it the championship game and 2-1 last year in getting to the semi-finals in pool play. Overall, UTA's record in the SBC tourney is 8-11. Factor out those two appearances listed earlier in this paragraph and they are 3-9 in five other appearances. They certainly looked headed for an appearance in 2020 before the season was canceled. The Mavericks missed postseason play this year due to the upside down win/loss record. It's the first miss since 2011, when they finished in a three-way tie for 7th, but missed out due to tiebreakers.

The bulk of the Mavericks success under Thomas came before major renovations to Clay Gould Ballpark. The indoor practice facility opened just prior to the 2013 season (and subsequent regular season title). The player clubhouse, which by all accounts is in line with the best in the country, opened in 2015. Prior to that, the players dressed out of Maverick Stadium and then they drove to the Gould.

In theory, on field performance should have improved with those upgrades. And maybe it did. While the Southland (the lineup UTA faced as a member) and the schools in the WAC for UTA's lone year were competitive, the Sun Belt is a step above. The SBC is top ten most years. Three teams this year are in the top thirty RPI for all NCAA Division I and the conference as a whole is sixth out of 31. It is possible that UTA's talent improved, but on-field performance stagnated. 

That may also account for the lackluster end to the season. While two or three conference series occur in March, the rest occur in April and May. A beefed up conference slate certainly could account for UTA's late season struggles. The Mavs finished top three in the conference three times and top four a total of four times. The Mavericks time in the SBC saw three top 6, 7 or 8 finishes three more times and this year's 11th place was the first time out of the top ten.

So by all accounts, they were a middle of the pack team at worst in the conference, so I'm not sure that accounts for the late season struggles. That would have to mean year in, year out, they faced the best team in the conference at the end and didn't win. More likely, using Appalachian State as an example, they just fell flat late in season. The Mavericks finished ahead of the Mountaineers every year in the standings until this year. But all-time the series is even. Plain and simple, they lost games they should not have.

Thomas finished with a career record of 404-412. Of the 15 seasons he coached, eight ended with a winning record. His 404 victories rank second all-time at UTA, while his 412 losses are also second. He won one regular season championship in 2013, one conference tournament crown in 2012 and an SBC West Division title in 2017.

Those accomplishments are secondary to his biggest attribute. He is a good guy. I knew him from my time as a student broadcaster when he was an assistant under Clay Gould and an Associate with Jeff Curtis. I traveled with the team in 2001 and 2002. Looking through the lens as a parent now, he's exactly who I'd want teaching my kid the game and how to be an adult. 

While attendance is hard to give a root cause, the fact is reported attendance average has increased under Thomas' watch. In the four years prior to his promotion to head coach, UTA averaged in the mid-300's. They eclipsed 600 twice within the last six years and narrowly missed a third. Overall, attendance has increased year-over-year seven times in the last nine seasons. The first season in the Sun Belt saw an average of 352 fans per game. Despite this year's poor W/L showing, 493 came through the gate on any given day. 

While the top of the Sun Belt dwarf that number, there has been a steady increase and UTA was near the top of the bottom half of the conference. UTA's old SLC numbers would have been far lower. 

Unfortunately, sports coaches are measured primarily by one metric, wins, losses and championships. I'm certain there was more behind the scenes that led to his resignation, but it likely stemmed from that. 

A new President with a month on the job, a new Athletic Director on the horizon and now a new baseball coach waiting in the wings, change is coming to UTA. As with the Scott Cross changeover to Chris Ogden, some change isn't good. UTA really needs to get this one right.