Part One: Context Is Everything When It Comes To Vanderbilt Baseball Coach Tim Corbin

Vanderbilt Skipper Tim Corbin Sat Down With Us This Week To Reflect On Last Season And What's Next For Vanderbilt Baseball In 2020

It wasn't the first time I had interviewed Vanderbilt Head Baseball Coach Tim Corbin, but it was the first time sitting in his office looking at the hardware he's collected since the last time we spoke. 

A little history is in order here to explain things. I actually interviewed Coach Corbin on a local radio show when he was first hired as the head man for the Commdores in 2003. He was a college baseball coach entering a tough job at a top academic institution that had no real history of major success on the diamond. 

Fast forward 16 years to Wednesday when I sat across the desk from a two-time national championship winning coach,  in his office where everything seemed so much different this time.

It didn't take me long to figure out that Corbin is a very deep thinker, and some of the things he said during our time together left more questions that could have been asked. 

I also realized that I needed to thing deeper myself and understand the context behind his answers, because context is important and not everything he said was clear cut.   

For instance, when I asked Corbin about some of the potential candidates to fill open spots on the field this season, his answer caught me somewhat off guard. 

"I'm not really sure you know. I know we have some kids that played last year, but outside of that I have no expectations of them," said Corbin. "We could go 0-60, I'm not sure. All I care about is that once they get here in the afternoon that they get better."   

A baseball coach with no expectations? Really? Well not quite. That's where the deeper thought comes into play. 

"There's not a carry over, ok, this person did what he did last year so now there is a thought that he's just going to carry over that," continued Corbin. "I don't think that way, so it's no carryover. We have to regroup, it's a new chapter and we have to build and we have to go from there, but last year was last year and I put it out of my mind."

To say Corbin actually has no expectations of his players is incorrect. He expects the same things all coaches do from their players, he has no expectations as to how well they will perform this coming season. 

When looking at the returning players, pitching would seem like a place where Corbin would hang his hat this season based on some returning players. Again, his response was low-key even when talking about Kumar Rocker.

"Maybe, I don't know, I mean he's got to get better, he's not good enough yet," stated Corbin, "He's got a long way to go." 

While I have no doubt that Rocker does need to continue to improver, he performed at an incredibly high level late in the season and was likely the ace of the staff in the NCAA tournament. 

"Anybody on our team has to get better, they all have to get better," continued Corbin. "If not, it's not going to matter. It's them being able to get here and get better as a group."

Once again I'm left to think deeper as I'm sure there's an expectation somewhere inside these words. 

As for potential positions where there could be competition for starting spots, this answer was no surprise.  

"All nine, nothing's owned," Corbin said. "Everything's rented. You don't own anything here. You get to the point where you create consistancy every single day and if you thin you own something, you're going to be gone. If I think I own this chair, I'm going to be gone, it's as simple as that. You know, if you think you own what you do, you're gonna be gone. You've got to do a good job, just as much as I've got to do a good job, so I feel the same way with the players. They come in here and they have to earn it every single day and if they're not ready to earn it, we'll ship'em out. It's as simple as that."

Once again, I see an expectation, and yet I totally understand what he means inside all this when he said he has no expectations.

This didn't start as something to be done in multiple parts, but there is so much to this conversation that it needs extra innings to get through it all without turning it into a baseball version of War & Peace.

Still To Come: Coach Corbin talks about J.J. Bleday, new turf on Hawkins Field, the success of former players and a birthday text to Kyle Wright. 

NOTE: I snapped two quick pictures of Coach in hsi office and wouldn't you know it, I didn't look at them before I left, and both caught him with his eyes shut.