BAMANEWSBOT
Staff
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. ā Greg Goff is quick with a smile and has an infectious laugh. The first year Alabama head coach is an active listener who maintains eye contact with the speaker; a practice which can be a bit unnerving as he drives through Tuscaloosa traffic. Fortunately, I sat beside him, not behind him as we whisked around town in his pickup. We arrived quickly, safely, and the destination was as advertised.
The coach asks many questions and tries to get people to open up, even if in this case the main purpose of this meeting is to interview him. In our two hour conversation, I feel like he may have learned more about me than I did him.
Goff is utterly likable and a natural salesman.
That trait will serve him well as tries to build a winner at a place that knows something about winning; just not at his sport.
The new coach faces a couple of battles in his program building quest at Alabama. One is on the field, where his success as a head coach at his last three stops has to provide hope for a fan base envious of the diamond success shared by the bulk of their SEC brethren. Alabama has not been to Omaha since 1999 and has not hosted a regional since Jim Wellsā squad in 2006. Goff was hired to end both droughts.
The other struggle is cultivating the fan base. The new ballpark is a draw but even with a state of the art facility, the program has lost the buzz to bring in capacity crowds.
An obvious visual for anyone who walks into the stadium during a game is the preponderance of empty seats. The outfield and the top of the grandstands have solid attendance, but the closer you get the field, the more empty seats you find. Those seats are sold but go largely unused.
I walked around the park getting a vibe for the stadium. I noticed ushers shooing away patrons who tried to move mid-game to empty seats closer to the action. There was a high school baseball team in the last section down the left field line. With entire sections bare behind the plate, I couldnāt help but wonder about the gained goodwill if the high school players were encouraged and allowed to relocate to one of the many empty sections closer to the action. Those kids would have bragged to everyone they knew how they were treated at Alabama. And it would have cost nothing.
But this isnāt just an Alabama thing. Fans of other programs have remarked about tickets sold being a much more important metric than actual attendance. The tickets are purchased, often at high premiums pricing out many of the hardcores. Fans wonder if it really matters if the ticket holder shows up as long as he pays?
The empty seats donāt cheer for diving catches, buy popcorn and crackerjacks, or look appealing to recruits on the SEC Network.
Goff Navigates The Rugged Road | D1Baseball.com
The coach asks many questions and tries to get people to open up, even if in this case the main purpose of this meeting is to interview him. In our two hour conversation, I feel like he may have learned more about me than I did him.
Goff is utterly likable and a natural salesman.
That trait will serve him well as tries to build a winner at a place that knows something about winning; just not at his sport.
The new coach faces a couple of battles in his program building quest at Alabama. One is on the field, where his success as a head coach at his last three stops has to provide hope for a fan base envious of the diamond success shared by the bulk of their SEC brethren. Alabama has not been to Omaha since 1999 and has not hosted a regional since Jim Wellsā squad in 2006. Goff was hired to end both droughts.
The other struggle is cultivating the fan base. The new ballpark is a draw but even with a state of the art facility, the program has lost the buzz to bring in capacity crowds.
An obvious visual for anyone who walks into the stadium during a game is the preponderance of empty seats. The outfield and the top of the grandstands have solid attendance, but the closer you get the field, the more empty seats you find. Those seats are sold but go largely unused.
I walked around the park getting a vibe for the stadium. I noticed ushers shooing away patrons who tried to move mid-game to empty seats closer to the action. There was a high school baseball team in the last section down the left field line. With entire sections bare behind the plate, I couldnāt help but wonder about the gained goodwill if the high school players were encouraged and allowed to relocate to one of the many empty sections closer to the action. Those kids would have bragged to everyone they knew how they were treated at Alabama. And it would have cost nothing.
But this isnāt just an Alabama thing. Fans of other programs have remarked about tickets sold being a much more important metric than actual attendance. The tickets are purchased, often at high premiums pricing out many of the hardcores. Fans wonder if it really matters if the ticket holder shows up as long as he pays?
The empty seats donāt cheer for diving catches, buy popcorn and crackerjacks, or look appealing to recruits on the SEC Network.
Goff Navigates The Rugged Road | D1Baseball.com
