Everything Monte Lee said after South Carolina's SEC Tournament loss to Tennessee

South Carolina interim head baseball coach Monte Lee spoke to the media following the team’s 11-6 loss to Tennessee in the SEC Tournament on Tuesday. Here’s everything he had to say.

Opening statement

“Congratulations to Tennessee. They did such a good job tonight offensively. They did a great job of just using the whole field offensively. Hit a lot of balls hard the other way, lot of two-strike hits — just thought they did an outstanding job offensively.

“We didn’t make a couple plays early in the ball game. Ultimately, the difference was, when you give up six in an inning — a big inning there early in the game — and you get behind, it can make it really, really tough on you. And I thought our guys responded pretty well offensively. I thought we had a pretty good offensive night — and especially with this guy to my right, Pat Evans. I think everybody got a chance to see just how special an athlete he is. When he puts it all together, he’s a very dynamic player, and it certainly showed tonight.

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“I thought we swung the bats pretty well — 11 hits, six runs. Needed to be better defensively. We needed to make a couple plays that we didn’t make. But ultimately, we just got hit, and we gave up too many hits, too many runs early in the ball game. We fell behind. We didn’t do a good enough job of executing two-strike pitches. And ultimately, when you fall behind against a good club like Tennessee, it’s going to make it tough. But they were the better team, and wish them well moving forward.”

Now that the season’s over, things are going to pick up a little bit. Why should you be the next coach at South Carolina? What makes you the right guy to lead this program permanently?

“Look, I’ve talked enough about myself, right? I mean, I’ve been asked this quite a few times, and it gets a little hard to talk about yourself constantly.

“The only thing that I’ll say is this: I got into coaching 26 years ago to serve players and to be a good mentor, role model, coach the players to the best of my ability. Like Patrick said, I’ve always had the players’ back. It’s been a blessing to be a part of this program — and all the other programs that I’ve been a part of as a coach — and I’ve had a lot of success as a head coach. I know this season’s been really, really tough. The last two years have been really, really tough. But look, I know who I am. I know what I’ve accomplished as a head coach. You can look at my track record, and I just ask anybody to look at my track record as a head coach. I’ve won plenty of games as a head coach.

“That being said, the administration has to make a decision as to who they think is the best leader for the program moving forward. I respect that they’re going to go through that process and pick the right guy for the job. If that’s not me, my time here has been a wonderful experience. It really has. From a guy that grew up 25 miles away going to the football games, basketball games, baseball games, lived in this state my whole life — my family lives here — it’s been really, really special.

“And it’s been an honor to be able to wear this uniform and to give the kids my very best. I think, ultimately, that’s the one thing that I can say is, ‘I gave them my very best.’ It didn’t always work out the way that we wanted it to, and we’re certainly disappointed the way the season ended this year. But I gave them everything that I could.”

You planned on being here in Hoover for several days, not just one day, so maybe you haven’t given a lot of thought to the rest of your week. But now that it’s over, what will the rest of your week look like? Do you have an idea of when you’ll have a chance to sit down with [Jeremiah] Donati and talk to him?

“No, I haven’t heard from Jeremiah yet in regards to that. I’m sure that I will, so I don’t really know that.

“We’ll get up early in the morning; we’ll head back to Columbia. I’ll begin doing exit meetings with the players one by one, just to talk to each guy so we’ll get a sense of where they’re at and how they’re feeling moving forward. And then, from there, I certainly look forward to hearing from the administration — just more so what are some things that they’re going to want from me and from the rest of the staff for the rest of this week.

“But haven’t had that conversation yet with him, though.”

You’ve been here in some good moments and in some tough moments at South Carolina. What would you say is the biggest change or point of emphasis that needs to happen, whether it’s you or another head coach, for the program to turn back around?

“I know I’ve said this a few times in different interviews, but whoever the next leader of this program is needs to build a program. I feel like, in the last few years — and I understand why because I’ve been right in the middle of it, the expectations of this program are very, very high — we have tried really hard to put together teams every summer. And when we build a foundation that’s rock solid in this program, whoever the leader is, of bringing in high school players…

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“We need to get back to recruiting kids in the state of South Carolina — and kids closer to home like a Pat Evans, who will run through a brick wall for the program; we need more guys like him, where it’s personal to them, the success of the program. We certainly have to continue to recruit out of the portal and junior college. That’s not going to go away. But I think, to build a program — just building the classes from the ground up, letting the kids grow up in the program, and recruiting kids that have a burning desire and a passion to play for South Carolina — would be what I would recommend to the next leader.

“And it’s got to be someone who, this is their dream opportunity. It can’t be a financial situation, quite honestly. I’ve seen how that goes, too. It’s got to be, ‘I want to go to South Carolina, no matter what they pay me, because that’s where I want to be. I know the tradition. I know all the success that the program’s had. And I want to be a part of that.’ I think you’ve got to find someone who is super, super excited about the opportunity and not looking at it as a step up in regards to money and all of those things. I think that’s a big deal. Got to find a guy that’s got a burning desire to be here.”

Looking at the first two games of the ABS system in college baseball and SEC history, how do you feel like this is a big adjustment to the Southeastern Conference and what could lie ahead for other conferences down the road, at the DI or DIII level — and how the coaches committee has handled that, as well?

“Well, we weren’t very good at it tonight, so I don’t know if you want to ask me about it. Look, I’m not critical of things that I don’t understand. So, therefore, I would probably say I’d like more time with it to be able to get a feel for it.

“But I will say this: I think it’s a good thing in regards to, I think the catchers have a feel for it. I don’t think the hitters are going to have much of a feel for it, and I know the pitchers aren’t going to have a feel for it. So, I think that, from my perspective — and again, very small sample size — but talking to people who have used it, I like it. I do. So, I’m all for it.

“There’s been a big push over the last few years in general just to get the call right. That’s been a big emphasis, just with replay. And our umpires are so good in this league as it is. It’s just another tool to get the call right. So, I’m for it, but certainly would need more time with it to really give you a strong opinion on it.”

When you guys do have those exit meetings, with all the uncertainty of you guys not knowing what’s going to happen next as far as the next coach goes, how do you think you may handle those conversations with those guys as far as trying to give them advice on what they should do next, even though they may not know what is next for South Carolina?

“Well, I went through this with the transition from Coach [Mark] Kingston to Coach [Paul] Mainieri. I was in the interim role, and I tried to do everything that I could to just hold the roster together because I do think — this is just my opinion — kids, it’s their right to decide whatever they want to do. If they want to go into the transfer portal, wait it out, stay here, it’s certainly their right.

“What I’m going to do is try to encourage them to just hold tight and be patient and see who the next leader of the program is because I have, obviously, full confidence that the administration is going to pick a tremendous leader to run the program. That’s going to be my advice to the players: to be patient and wait and see how the process goes and see who the new leader is going to be before they decide to jump into the portal and transfer — unless, again, it’s just something that they wholeheartedly want to do. So, that’s going to be, I would say, in general, my message to the guys.”

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