First-year baseball coach Sean McNally arrived at Duke staring at a huge challenge: How was he going to turn around a program that had finished 14-39 the year before?
McNally responded to the challenge by cleaning house-literally.
"We cleaned out our lockers and all the facilities," senior second baseman Adam Murray said. "We're ready to start from scratch and only keep those players who fit [McNally's] mold.... Nobody has a spot on the team. Everybody has to work hard and prove to Coach, and to the assistant coaches, they deserve the uniform.
"Everybody has a clean slate and we're going from there."
Although McNally would not comment on his decision to force players to clean out their lockers and try out for the team again, Murray said the move will benefit the team.
"I think it's a good thing," said Murray, a three-year starter in the Blue Devil infield. "It's woken up some people and it's what we needed."
Cleaning out the lockers was only one part of an effort that McNally describes as "changing the culture" of the program.
"We are looking for an across the board standard of excellence," the coach said. "The key to playing the game is in the details-be on time, be respectful. Every aspect of your life contributes to how you play the game. The classroom is not disconnected from the field."
McNally says that he has tried to preach this new philosophy to all of the players and in all aspects of running the program.
Murray, for one, can see a tangible difference.
"Practice has been at a high pace," Murray said. "It's more organized, there's a set plan for what we want to accomplish when we get on the field.
"He has this whole approach-everyday you're getting better or you're getting worse.... He wants attention to detail to be very high so that everyday we're getting better."
The plan appears to have gotten off to a successful start, as McNally and Murray both say that players are buying into the new philosophy.
"I feel good," McNally said. "Guys are working hard. They're excited and they're getting better every day."
McNally was an important player on some of Duke's most successful teams in recent memory. The Blue Devils posted a 134-82 mark in his four seasons as a player from 1991-1994. The team won a school-record 39 games in McNally's sophomore season, and the infielder set school records for batting average (.408) and slugging percentage (.775) as a senior that still stand today.
The former two-time captain's own experience playing for the Blue Devils affected the image he is trying to create for the program as he rebuilds it.
"I want them to understand that to be a part of the baseball program-something important to me as a former player-I want a group that takes pride and appreciates it," McNally said.
During their fall practices, the coach has stressed looking to the future and not dwelling on the program's past failings, which included allegations of steroid use during the summer of 2002.
Murray said McNally made it clear from July 15th-the day he was hired-that a player's reputation or status under departed coach Bill Hillier would mean nothing to the new coach.
"That's just my philosophy, to go from July 15th forward," McNally said. "We're moving forward and not back. That's the only way I know how to coach and the only way I knew how to play."
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