Kentucky’s Floreal chosen to lead UT’s ‘elite’ program
Horns AD Del Conte impressed by coach’s work at Stanford.
think we’re just excited to play and we’re focused on game one.”
What these Longhorns legacies know about Omaha, however, are second-hand tales. Left-handed reliever Josh Sawyer is the only Longhorn who has been to the College World Series (2014). He didn’t play but was on UT’s postseason roster.
Four years later, Texas (4221) will meet Arkansas (4419) in its opener at the College World Series on Sunday afternoon.
Helping guide Texas back to Omaha is a flock of fresh faces. Catcher D J Petrinsky and outfielders Masen Hibbeler and Duke Ellis are starters that weren’t with the team last year. UT’s starting pitcher in the decisive game of its super regional, Matteo Bocchi, was Hibbeler’s teammate at Odessa College the past two years. Freshmen Kamron Fields, Bryce Elder and Nico O’Donnell have pitched 91⅔ innings.
Texas entered this season with more newcomers (20) than returnees (17). To integrate the team, Sawyer and junior Andy McGuire spearheaded an offseason bonding campaign that included barbecuing, a crawfish boil and a watch party for the Mayweather-McGregor fight. Sawyer said it didn’t take long for the new guys to fit in at these well-attended player-led events.
“When we went (to the College World Series) in 2014, we had team chemistry,” Sawyer said. “That’s what it takes to get back to Omaha. Talent only gets you so far. Having
Texas on Wednesday announced the hiring of Edrick Floreal, who has spent the past six years running Kentucky’s track and field program where he coached 12 NCAA champions.
The hire — the first of Texas Athletic Director Chris Del Conte’s tenure — comes four months after the dismissal of former UT track coach Mario Sategna.
“(Texas is) the elite of the elite in track and field programs, and the potential to achieve greatness is fantastic,” Floreal said in a news release. He’ll be introduced at a news conference Thursday.
“You have the premier track and field state in the country to recruit in, a rich and proud history and are the flagship institution of the state,” he said. “It’s truly an amazing opportunity.”
Floreal, 51, previously coached at Stanford for six years. Last week, the Kentucky women finished fourth at the NCAA outdoor championship and the men placed 16th. Jasmine Camacho-Quinn (100-meter hurdles), Sydney McLaughlin (400 hurdles), Olivia Gruver (pole vault) and Tim Duckworth (decathlon) all won individual NCAA titles this month.
In 2015, the Kentucky women were the national the team chemistry and wanting to win for each other is what gets you there.”
UT players have lauded their chemistry throughout this season. The get-togethers were nice, but UT coach David Pierce surmised that chemistry was rooted in a winning mentality that was built during last year’s run to an NCAA regional. Texas opened this year 9-9. The Longhorns rallied to win the Big 12 regular-season runners-up to Oregon.
“What I really liked about him was what he did at Stanford,” Del Conte told the American-Statesman. “He built that program up to a national power and then went to Kentucky, which has no historical track background. He built them into a power.
“It’s no different than (baseball coach) David Pierce going to Sam Houston and Tulane and then doing it here. He’s done an amazing job.”
Floreal, who graduated from Arkansas in 1990, represented Canada in the triple jump at the 1988 and 1992 Olympics.
“People who know me know I’m a tireless worker,” he said. “I’m a workaholic and love being at the track.”
Texas has been led on an interim basis by Tonja Buford-Bailey, who told the Statesman on Wednesday she won’t return to UT. She had worked as an associate head coach at Texas since 2013; prior to that, the former Olympic hurdler was the women’s track coach at Illinois.
The Texas men finished 25th and the women 34th at the NCAA outdoors. Texas last won an NCAA team championship in 2006 when the women won the NCAA indoors.
In April, it was announced Texas will host the 2019 and 2020 NCAA outdoor championships. title and a 36th trip to the College World Series.
“I don’t think chemistry really happens until you compete against outside competition together,” Pierce said. “Once they started doing that, they realized there’s going to be adversity. How do we handle that?”