For weeks, rumors swirled among the baseball players as the team awaited the selection of its new coach. The morning of July 15, hours before the Duke Athletic Department announced his hiring, Sean McNally was on the phone calling his players’ homes, touching base with his new team.
It was not the first time the Blue Devils had spoken with McNally. The former minor league manager and Duke baseball star led a hitting workshop for a struggling Blue Devil team during its most recent season. And while some of the players were surprised that Duke had selected a young and relatively inexperienced head coach, they were all happy with the hire.
“He came and talked to us about hitting,” sophomore Brett Bartles recalled. “He helped me a lot just in that one day, and so I’m really excited to have the opportunity to play for him.... It was a good hire.”
McNally’s nine years in the minor leagues seemed to be a strong selling point for many of the players.
“The biggest thing with him is his pro ball experience,” sophomore Jim Gallagher said. “He played nine seasons and even coached at that level. So he knows what it’s like to be at that level and what it takes to get there.”
At the collegiate level, however, McNally has never held a coaching position, nor does he have much experience in recruiting young players. Many of the other candidates for the position, on the other hand, had both.
“I was a little surprised,” junior Corey Whiting said. “I thought they would hire somebody with more college experience. I don’t know McNally too well, but I know he’s a great player and was successful at the college level... but I thought there were other candidates who looked better at least on paper.”
Many of the players said that McNally’s professional experience, along with his success at Duke and the overall reputation of the school, will help sell the University to young recruits.
McNally, who is one of the Blue Devils’ best hitters of all-time, emphasized the importance of developing the young talent on the team to help his players reach a higher level. Some of the players acknowledged the differences in McNally’s approach, as compared to the style of former head coach Bill Hillier, who had often put a premium on winning at all costs.
“I think [Hillier] was feeling a lot of pressure given the status of the program,” senior Adam Murray said. “I think McNally can afford the time to develop the player. Even with that being said, though, I don’t think McNally is going to be grooming players for the future. We’re going to find the balance between the two.”
In addition to his professional experience, the 32-year-old McNally will bring youthful energy to the program, something the team said it needed. Murray and Athletics Director Joe Alleva had both mentioned Duke’s success with young coaches like lacrosse coaches Mike Pressler and Kerstin Kimel and women’s golf head coach Dan Brooks, who just collected his third National Championship this year.
“Duke has hired plenty of coaches who are young and don’t have much experience, but once they get their feet wet they have often done a good job,” Murray said. “[McNally] is young and really excited for the job. He’s going to bring a lot of energy into the program. That’s going to translate to current players and in recruiting, not only for next year but for years to come.”
Although McNally has missed the first two official weeks of college baseball recruitment, he is confident that he will quickly make up for lost time. He said after he familiarizes himself with his current players, he’ll get on the phone recruiting his future ones.
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