Monaco reviews A&M's 2024 baseball season, postseason craziness

It has been a wild week for Texas A&M baseball, as Michael Earley was named the newest head coach on Sunday. The Voice of the Aggies, Andrew Monaco, joined TexAgs Radio on Tuesday to discuss Earley's loyalty, bond with the players and much more.

Key notes from Andrew Monaco interview

• That was the hard part because thinking back to Game 2, and the longer that game goes 1-0, in the back of your mind, you’re going, “You know what, we may just find a way to win this 1-0”. It kept getting deeper and deeper in that game.

• After Game 1 and a phenomenal win on Saturday, Sunday... Having a chance and still thinking, “Hey, you know what? It’s down to one game,” and this team does what it does all year. They are unaffected by highs and lows, and it’s crushing after the ninth inning to have a chance. You’re not playing well. You’re starting out down 6-1 and then making it 6-5 and thinking, “This team might do what they’ve done and find a way,” and then all the turn of events.

• This is what I texted to a ton of people as they got in touch with me. Stunned and disappointed is what it was. I didn’t think Jim Schlossnagle was going to go to Texas. Then it became a reality.

• I think we’re going to end up stronger. I really do because of the loyalty. What does it say about Michael Earley that you have not just current players but the former players speaking out? 

• I give a ton of credit to the former players going back to Omaha where they were all in on this team, and I mean all of them. I saw guys from the 1999 team and the ’89 team. They were all in Omaha. They were wanting to be a part of it. J.B. Moss comes in as well. 

• When there’s the opportunity to hire Michael Earley, the former players, I thought, said just as much. So, to me, you ride that rollercoaster. Look, saying goodbye to some friends that you’ve been around for the last three years is not easy, obviously.

• The decision was made. The decision was right for them. I have no problem with that. If that were the case, then all of us need to go back to our previous jobs and not move wherever again. To me, it’s what’s best for the person. But, to me, it was a rollercoaster, and then looking and saying, “Wow, I think we’re actually going to end up being stronger in the long run.”

• Yeah, and I always joke about this. Walking over to Charles Schwab Field, my wife was with me, and we were walking over with Will Johnson, and I always say this: “I like being good.” I really do. I like being good, and this team was good. I mean good.

• Rarely do you have the two best teams in the country playing for all of it, but to watch it come together, to watch… I almost call it a layering. A freshman leading off, a sophomore in the two-hole, and a junior, and it just keeps stacking. To watch Caden Sorrell. Brauny called him a rocket ship in one of the broadcasts, and he is. To watch the development.

• To watch Shane Sdao do what he does. To see the redemption of Justin Lamkin on the backend. To see Josh Stewart come in, I mean he was huge. To see the development of not only just where Chris Cortez started but where Christopher ended, and then really, more than anything, the human, the young man that he became. To know Evan Aschenbeck was just so special.

• You can’t take almost 55 wins away from this team. It was the No. 2 team in the country that had a chance to dogpile in the Heartland. That’s what was taken away.

• I think Texas gets a lot of blame, not enough, for announcing David Pierce is gone on that Monday, on Game 3 of the Men’s College World Series, and that sets everything in motion. They’re not getting nearly enough grief for that they should. I know it is timed. I think it’s absolutely ill-timed, and that set everything in motion and took the shine away.

• Think about this: nationwide, Tennessee is not getting the credit it deserves for winning a College World Series because of all of this. I think there needs to be more of a blame or discredit there.

• It was a disservice what they did to David Pierce, having him hang out for two weeks like that. Look, we knew he was a dead man walking, and that’s fair or unfair, and they didn’t want to have to answer all the questions for two weeks: “Who’s your next coach?” and this and that. I thought that timing was really, really poor. Being in Omaha, I thought it was poor at that time. Looking back, I think it’s poor at this time.

• Think of all the big weekends just in the SEC. Vanderbilt weekend, the Georgia weekend becomes magical because of falling behind 9-0, and then run-ruling, right? The build-up for Arkansas was another. That was the most emotional. How could you not shed tears?

• We talk about special moments, right? J.B. Moss and John Scheschuk are with me on the broadcast, so here’s these Aggies watching that Aggie who they know. Just a great moment.

• I told Brauny, and we said this while we were doing a game together: If there was a roof on Olsen Field, Kaeden Kent would have blown it off. The two loudest moments, for me, are that grand slam and Dylan Rock’s homerun against TCU. Those are the two loudest that stand out to me. I’m a big believer in the old school, even in radio. In a big moment, you just sit back and let the 12th Man say everything. From going to Omaha in 2022, it’s like, you know, that’s the old Vin Scully used to do. You don’t have to say anything. The crowd can always say something more than you can say, and I kind of felt that same way when they punched the ticket against Oregon. That was a dream inning.

• The atmosphere was bar none. From a random Tuesday with 7,000 people, are you kidding me? Every single game this season was something special, and I don’t mean just Tarleton. Now imagine if you’re a kid playing for Tarleton, being able to do that. You’re thinking, “Oh, we’re just going to roll over there,” and you’re playing in that atmosphere had to be something special.

• You knew this team was going to be good, so everyone was there from the beginning, and then it continued to build. It’s not like it went from nothing to building. You knew that this team had a chance to be special, and they lived up to it. I love the way that they handled being No. 1. That didn’t bother them. You could see the signs of “good.” “Hey, we’re No. 1. Good. Hey, we just lost two out of three. Good.” I get all of that, and at times, it is just a slogan, but they just flat-out lived it.

• It’s hard to get to Omaha. It’s hard to get through a regional.  Just the number of people who came through all season long to watch the development of young players. To see who did what from freshman to sophomore. That’s the joy of just being able to watch something play out over the course of a season.

• I have to say it from the player’s perspective and how much respect they have for Michael Earley. Again, back to that point of the former and current players, that loyalty and how much he has helped them and that impact that he has had with those players, I think, says everything. They talk about him in a different way when they talk about how he’s affected them as players and then as people. They love being around Michael. That’s what I like. He gets it all. For the longest time, we were always worried about, “Wow, where’s Michael going to go? That job is open. Where’s he going to go?” What better place to be than here, and he has a chance to be here for a long, long time, and that’s exciting.

• Think about this: As he’s prepared every player for that moment, he was prepared for this moment from the interview to knocking that out of the park. I just think he’s someone special who can be here for a very long time.

• Missouri swung and missed with Tony Vitello. You should have hired him. I love what Olin Buchan said about Dabo Swinney. Dabo was the seventh choice, and it worked out well for Clemson. It's about the trust of the players. The trust goes both ways. If you don't have that, you are not going to be successful.

• You learn from others with whom you coach with. There will be on-the-job training. That is for every head coach. How do you go from no experience to experience? At some point, you have to go through it. 

• I have been around experienced managers who have said they managed poorly. The player's trust in Earley will go a long way.

• I see similarities in Mike Elko and Mike Earley. Dirty work isn't dirty to them. Mike Elko had that defense and was hands on with that. That permeated not just on the defensive side but to the entire team. Same thing with Earley.

• Mike Elko sets the tone for all the coaches. Let's be fair. That's the way football coaches are for universities. If he is setting the tone? Man... The quality of coaches on this campus, Earley, adds to that quality.