Matt Williams On Coming To South Carolina: "It's Truly Humbling"
On Tuesday afternoon, it was announced by South Carolina's baseball program that they were hiring Liberty pitching coach Matt Williams to take the same role in Columbia after the Gamecock's previous pitching coach, Justin Parker, went to take the same job at Mississippi State. Williams didn't take long to make a decision once he was contacted by Mark Kingston sometime between Sunday night to Monday morning due to the ties he and his significant other have with the Palmetto State.
"It's a place that's dear to me because I grew up in this state, my wife went to school here," Williams stated. "It hasn't truly set in [being here]... but it's truly humbling to be back in my home state."
One of the most challenging parts about being a coach in transition is trying to get to know the players at your new stop, something Coach Williams hinted he was still working on, as he's only been able to have a few sit-down meetings in his first couple days in Columbia. One guy he had a really productive conversation with this week was relief pitcher Eli Jones, who was one of the best arms for the Gamecocks in 2023.
There were rumblings earlier in the week that Jones might enter the portal after the departure of former South Carolina pitching coach Justin Parker, but Matt Williams had a 25 to 30-minute conversation with Jones recently, one that he "felt great about" and seemed to ease any questions Eli might've had.
Regarding what Matt Williams prioritizes most as a coach, relationships with his players come first.
"I think the biggest thing for me is the relationships for me... that's gonna be at the forefront for me. Then it's trying to figure how each guy learns the best."
As mentioned earlier, there's no rest for the wicked, or in this case, a college coach at a new stop, as Matt Williams told reporters that he'll be hitting some major baseball hot spots in Atlanta, GA, and Hoover, AL over the next few weeks and will also be monitoring the transfer portal closely to see if anyone who could fit South Carolina's roster becomes available.
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