You probably need to let the emotions of the last 24 hours pass before getting a completely unbiased answer. I would say we are not a top 30 nationally ranked program just based on winning a down CUSA and beating a middle of the road AZ St program twice. Top 40 is more accurate. This was a great ending to a season that was completely inconsistent where we underachieved. If you give credit to Berry for running the CUSA tournament and getting in his fourth consecutive NCAA you have to also give him credit for his efforts with losing three of our last series, two against teams with losing records, that put us in a must win situation at the end. You can also add terrible series against FIU, UTSA and South Alabama.
A fair assessment would be to apply where our program is today compared to schools like Houston, ECU and Louisville, for example. If the results of 10 years of Scott Berry were applied at those comparable institutions he would no longer be employed at any of those programs. In fact, Berry should have been released in 2015 after missing his fourth straight regional.
Can Scott Berry take us to the next level? I have 10 years of results that say no. If you want next level, it actually starts with our new AD and setting a new expectation that winning a poor conference and making a regional isn't enough. Lucky Charm told him it was enough under his watch, and even gave him a new contract after missing 4 tourneys in a row.
You need to treat baseball like you treated football in the state of Mississippi prior to the creation of CUSA. We should be getting every single kid with talent that the SEC just doesnt have enough room for. Marrchant Kenney said it best when he was recruited by USM. If you don't get an offer from a top SEC program, you go to Southern Miss to prove them wrong.
Berry is complacent at 57 years old riding out this low pressure gig that pays him six figures living in a low cost state like MS. He isn't a young, hungry, want to make some noise guy that is going to catch top programs off guard. He is like all these older coaches that have that entitlement syndrome simply based on number of years, not number of national wins and regional skins on the wall.
He is the Jeff Bower of baseball. He will get you a CUSA title and make a bowl game, but you won't see him progressing a program to a top 20 power.
"There was a great deal of character on that field today. They are for real, no doubt about it. This was no fluke." - Coach Paul "Bear" Bryant