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Baylor Baseball

Rapid Reactions to Mitch Thompson's Introductory Press Conference

June 23, 2022
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Jack Mackenzie - SicEm365
Mitch Thompson was introduced as the 20th baseball coach in Baylor history.

Buy-in. The number one thing I walked away from Mitch Thompson’s introductory press conference with was people are going to buy into what he has to say.

Long-time Waco residents or Baylor fans familiar with Thompson’s time at BU from 1995-2012 know the type of man Coach Thompson is. But for those unfamiliar like myself, this was my introduction. 

In my opinion, he could not have left a better impression or done a better job this afternoon. During the half-hour or so that Coach Thompson was on the stage, he shared a wide array of emotions and sentiments. Starting with his relationship with God, his love for his wife and daughters, and his love for Baylor.

He repeatedly mentioned this was his dream job with tears in his eyes and said, “to realize that I am only the fifth head coach at this great school in the past 61 years tells me if I do it right, I can be here a long time. I plan on trying everything I can do with that.”

Aside from the incredible person Coach Thompson is, there were so many things to be excited about from a baseball perspective. One of the key things Mitch immediately shared was that Baylor was going to return to being a baseball powerhouse “Together.” There were plenty of former Baylor Baseball greats in the audience, including the current team and many others, but Thompson stressed the importance of being together as everyone brings this program back to a place of prominence. 

He continued to mention the importance of bringing back fans into Baylor Ballpark. As well as people joining the Heart of the Order, a donation-based foundation set on helping Baylor baseball players. When I asked Coach Thompson about the importance of bringing fans back to the program, he gave quite the response, “I’m going to ask all my dad-gum friends. When I said ask, I mean you are going to buy some tickets!”

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Coach Thompson expects to bring the Baylor program back to a state of prominence. 

Thompson also urged the importance of the players, “the players are the most important asset we have. They are the only thing that matters.” He said he would be meeting with the players one on one to calm their hearts over the next few days. When asked about the roster next year in regards to being a rebuild and the transfer portal, he said, “the transfer portal has obviously changed the game of college baseball. It’s going to be an interesting thing to maneuver through.”

He even mentioned he would reach out to the top 20 Junior Colleges in the country and that his connections from coaching college baseball for 32 years would allow him to bring some great players into Baylor. Thompson noted, “If you handle your business the right way, people will speak well of you. Thankfully, I think that is my reputation... and together, we are going to build this thing.” Don’t immediately count the Bears out next season; Coach Thompson will hit the JUCOs and the transfer portal hard this summer. He insisted on recruiting and having good relationships within the great state of Texas, something that the previous coaching staff did not take full advantage of.  

You could feel Coach Thompson’s desire to return this program to where it should be: hosting regionals, super regionals, and “God-willing, we are going to take this place back to Omaha, and we are going to compete to win the whole dad-gum thing.”

Athletic Director Mack Rhoades added his complete support by saying, “Mitch Thompson wasn’t given this job. He earned it. He was the best of the best when we think about a really deep and talented pool.”

You could sense the excitement and buy-in from current players, former players, and the people within the crowd. As some noted on the boards, there may have been more people at the press conference this afternoon than there were at baseball games last season. It’s officially Mitch Thompson’s program, and he’s going to return Baylor to prominence very soon. Hop on the bandwagon now. I’m excited. 

Discussion from...

Rapid Reactions to Mitch Thompson's Introductory Press Conference

3,320 Views | 3 Replies | Last: 1 yr ago by BellCountyBear
CTbruin
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Well said!
StatMan
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Welcome back to Baylor Baseball, Mitch Thompson! Looking forward to winning seasons, and some postseason success in the future.
BellCountyBear
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I hope you're on a statin.
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