Tough Decisions on Monte Lee, Clemson Baseball Loom

With great power comes great expectations.

That most certainly applies to Clemson baseball. The team wears hats with "Omaha" stitched into the back. The proud program ranks in the top-20 all-time in the win-loss record and has been to the College World Series 12 times.

There's a history between coaches Bill Wilhelm and Jack Leggett, and players Kris Benson and Seth Beer steeped in winning and excellence.

However, the Tigers are going through one of the most tumultuous two-year stretches in the modern era. Clemson missed the NCAA tournament on Monday for the second consecutive season for the first time since 1985 and 1986.

The Tigers reeled off 21 straight NCAA regional berths after that, and following a missed tournament in 2008, they went to 11 in a row. But Clemson hasn't tasted the postseason beyond the ACC tournament since 2019.

The 2020 season was canceled in mid-March because of COVID -19. Head coach Monte Lee's run of four consecutive regional appearances ended there.

This season should've been different, though. The Tigers began 2022 with a 14-0 record. ACC play was a bear as the team went just 13-18 (counting two conference tournament games) and was the 12th seed in Charlotte last week.

With the season coming to an end, tough decisions must now be made. Clemson cannot continue down the same spiraling path as the last two years. The Tigers (35-23) were better in 2022 than the 2021 team that finished with a losing record--the program's first since 1957--but holes remain in the pitching staff, which barely ranked inside the top-100 nationally in ERA and struggled to find productive weekend starters.

The hitting was full of power, led by ACC Player of the Year Max Wagner, but too many strikeouts, especially in key situations, ailed the Tigers' offense against some of their better opponents.

Clemson needs changes, and they will almost certainly occur this offseason. The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different outcome. This is not a program that can or should continue to have the same outcomes as the last two seasons.

Whether or not Athletic Director Graham Neff feels that change should start at the top of the program remains to be seen. Lee was asked during his final press conference of the 2022 season at the ACC tournament whether or not he thought he'd be back for another campaign.

"I do expect to be back but ultimately that's not my decision," he said. "It's gonna be up to the administration. I'm sure that I will meet with the administration at some point and hear what they have to say. You know, I expect to be back but ultimately, that's not my decision. So we'll certainly cross that bridge when we get there."

Lee also said he's "100% accountable" for the team's performance, and his new boss, who took over in December, will also look at it that way. But Neff hasn't been in his position enough to get a feel for how he'll react.

After all, he stuck with Clemson men's basketball head coach Brad Brownell after that program fell short of an NCAA tournament bid. However, expectations vary from program to program.

Just because Neff didn't make a move with one sport doesn't mean he will or won't with another. Running an athletic department is like being the head of a conglomerate that owns multiple companies. Decisions and results aren't universal across the board.

That being said, Lee has made several positive impacts on the baseball program. He's 242-136 overall and 102-86 in ACC play.

The Tigers won the ACC title in his first season. They hosted regionals for three consecutive years but didn't reach a super regional.

He's recruited high-end talent and developed Major Leaguers. But is that same talent still coming to Clemson?

Despite the deep baseball tradition and top-notch facilities, there are certainly challenges Lee has to overcome.

The NCAA currently only allows baseball teams to hand out 11.7 scholarships but there are 27 players on the active roster. That means divvying up money and juggling a difficult system.

Other schools have the same issues. Some, however, have university endowments that allow them to privately fund more scholarships. That's a great recruiting tool that Lee doesn't have, although some potential NCAA changes could correct that.

Also, Clemson recently got back involved in the academic common market, which helps the Tigers recruit better out-of-state.

Despite the challenges, Clemson should still have more success than its recent lack of postseason appearances.

If Neff does indeed give Lee another year, there will likely be an expectation to make the NCAA tournament in 2023, just like he did with Brownell. And if that isn't met, then a change would follow.

Regardless of which way that decision goes, there will likely be changes to the coaching staff. What the Tigers have done from a philosophical and developmental standpoint hasn't worked the last two seasons.

So much goes into these types of decisions, though, that it's difficult to pinpoint exactly what will occur over the next few days as evaluations of the baseball program are made by the athletic department.

It's abundantly clear after the last two years, though, that something's got to change for this proud Clemson program to get back on the path to Omaha.

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