2-8 To Start The 2026 Season

We are 2–8, which is the worst start we have had since I took over this program, and it is also the most competitive we have ever been against this level of opponent to open a season. Both can be true.

We opened the year against elite competition with no soft landing and no easing into it, going through Virginia, Georgia, Mississippi, and now Florida for eight more, putting miles on a bus, living in hotel beds, dealing with quick turnarounds, running out a young lineup and inexperienced arms, and still we are in games, not moral victories but truly in them, tied late, leading and not finishing, trading punches with nationally ranked teams, and that is what makes this stretch hurt. If we were getting exposed, that would be one thing, but we are not getting exposed; we are getting tested, and there is a difference.

The pain right now is real, because eight losses in a row stays with you, it follows you back to the hotel room, it sits with you on the bus, and it wakes you up at 3:17 a.m. replaying one pitch, one swing, one decision, and you start asking hard questions about whether we are tough enough, experienced enough, and whether I am pushing the right buttons.

Today I was asked if this was going to be a rebuilding year, and the answer is absolutely not. We do not rebuild; we develop, we adjust, we respond, and rebuilding implies lower standards, which is not happening here. This team is young, and they do not yet know what they do not know, but they are competing, they are fighting, and they have come back from getting punched early and kept swinging, and that matters.

We are so close it is uncomfortable, because a cleaner inning, one less free base, or one better decision in a big spot changes everything, and while close does not count in the standings, close tells you something; it tells you the foundation is there.

The frustration is not from being outclassed; it is from being within reach and not grabbing it, and that is growth, and growth is rarely comfortable. This stretch will define us if we let it, because we can start telling ourselves we are 2–8, or we can tell ourselves we are battle-tested ten games in. This group will figure it out, not because the record says so, but because of how they are competing and how they are responding, and because there is pride in that dugout even when the scoreboard is not in our favor.

We are not folding; we are not pointing fingers; we are not lowering the bar; we are sharpening it. Sleepless nights come with this job, and so does belief. We are 2–8, we are not REBUILDING, we are building something stronger than comfort, and we are closer than people think. Just wait and see!