That’s great that he played what he felt were the best players, however what about the rest of the kids on the roster? How can you create depth if you keep telling kids they suck? How can you win games without contributions from guys you didn’t list? You’re going to need them. Injuries happen. Guys get tired. Your job as a coach/teacher is to make EVERY kid better. Even if they don’t FIT what you’re looking for. You don’t know when you’ll need them but they need to be ready. Edsall’s coaching record reflects the OPs point. And it’s exactly why Geno and now Hurley have complete buy in from the kids they coach. You’re NEVER going to have a roster of kids you like. Make due with what you have. Build them up. Allow them to reach their fullest potential. That doesn’t happen if you aren’t invested in EVERY kid on the roster. Until Edsall figures that out, nothing will change.
Look, it’s like the kid in Little League that no one wants to draft. He’s a good kid but he’s not very good. He can’t hit, catch or throw. He knows he’s not good because every coach he’s had told him that. But, someone’s got to take him. You know who takes him? I do. I did it every year. I never treated him different then anyone else on the team. If he was willing to give me 100% everyday, I would make him better. I spent time working with him every practice. He knew I wasn’t going to do to him what other coaches had (play RF). I played him everywhere. I let him pitch a game. I don’t like losing but I didn’t care. This was about getting a kid like that to believe he was part of something. You know what happened? He got better everyday. He started to hit. He made plays in the field. His teammates started to see him as an equal. He was never going to be a great player but he felt like he was contributing the team for the first time ever. We won the league championship and he got a big hit that game. That doesn’t happen if a coach isn’t INVESTED in see every kid achieve their own personal level of success. I prepared him for that moment. He ceased the opportunity. He just needed some who could push him but knew that he cared.
I’m not rooting my own horn here. I’ve been a very successful youth baseball coach. My teams are always the team nobody wanted to play. Not because I picked the best kids or I was a great coach, (I picked kids I thought I could work with and I ALWAYS picked the kid no other coach wanted.), but because I got my kids to believed in themselves, played together and most played above what THEY thought they were capable of. All because a coach was invested in them and believed they were capable of it!!!