@MizzouBaseball Press Conference Quotes
7/1/2016 1:34:00 PM | Baseball
Mack Rhoades and Steve Bieser addressed the media Friday
Photo Gallery | Bieser's Comments | Mack Rhoades | Bieser One-On-One
COLUMBIA, Mo. – Mizzou Athletics officially introduced Steve Bieser as its 14th head coach Friday morning (July 1) at Taylor Stadium in front of a large group of Mizzou supporters, media and former players. Athletic Director Mack Rhoades and Bieser addressed the crowd. Below is a complete transcript of their press conference on Friday.
Director of Athletics Mack Rhoades
Opening statement…
"Good morning. What an unbelievable day. Certainly, it's a great day for Mizzou Baseball. We're extremely excited. We're looking forward to some great years ahead in terms of this program and certainly winning championships. On behalf of Chancellor Foley, he couldn't be here today but he's certainly excited to meet Coach Bieser and excited about our baseball program. I want to recognize Coach Jamieson for a great 22 years. I want to thank him for everything he has done for this program. We talk about developing young people and Coach Jamieson did that extremely well. Also with us today is Coach McArtor. He was the head coach here for 21 years. I want to thank him for all his help as he was a part of the search process. Tim Hickman was also a part of the search process and serves as our sport administrator. Wren Baker and Brian White also helped in the process. All four of those individuals did a tremendous job. What excited me most about the process was the amount of interest in this opening. It was tough narrowing it down. We started with about 15-18 candidates and made a ton of phone calls to 'college baseball people' that we have relationships with. We finally ended up interviewing six people in person and brought it down to two finalists. We finally selected Coach Bieser. We couldn't be more excited."
"Why Coach Bieser? I think it starts with integrity. He's a man of an incredible integrity. You talk to so many people who've intersected with him and the impact he has had on them. His time playing professional baseball, time at St. John Vianney High School and Southeast Missouri State University. His integrity is unbelievable. We believe philosophically that you can't be great on the field unless you're great off the field. I think Coach Bieser certainly shares that philosophy. The one thing that we continue to hear over and over again about him as a coach is that he got the student-athletes to do things that they thought they couldn't ever do. They became better in all facets of life. His ability to identify and develop talent was certainly a part of it too. He's a proven winner. That certainly speaks volumes. He's certainly going to do that here."
#Mizzou AD Mack Rhoades had high praise for new #Mizzou head coach @biesersr #MIZ ?????? pic.twitter.com/oOdGeR0ybW
— #MizzouBaseball (@MizzouBaseball) July 1, 2016
"He spent 13 years in Major League Baseball. I mean this as a compliment. He probably should've have only spent five years there. He worked hard, outworked everybody and overachieved in his 13 years. I think that's a great accomplishment. I've been doing this for 16-17 years and have interviewed a lot of prospective head coaches. Steve is one of the smartest people that I've ever interviewed. He has great 'intellectual horsepower' and finds a way to get things done. Obviously, this job is an SEC job. It's more than that as it's also a Midwest job as well. You have to know the Midwest landscape and know where to recruit and build relationships. We think Coach Bieser certainly brings those capabilities to the table."
"Finally, it was his passion for this job. This is his dream job. The way he spoke about being the head coach at the University of Missouri and his excitement for that. What it means to him certainly resounded big time to us. We are extremely excited to introduce our fourth in the last 79 years and overall 14th head coach of Mizzou Baseball, Steve Bieser."
On how much he valued head coaching experience in potential candidates…
"You obviously value head coaching experience, but it wasn't the ultimate criteria. If you look at my track record of head coaching hires, we've hired coaches with some head experience and some with not. I try not to let that take me down any certain path and keep a wide open mind. Certainly, it was a feather in Steve's cap that he had been a head coach and successful as a head coach. It was more about his ability to develop a program. We can win here. There's no question in my mind. We weren't going to talk to anyone who didn't think that they could win at Mizzou and in the SEC. We fully expect to win here."
On what he can do to continue to improve the Mizzou Baseball program…
"We're in the process of all of those discussions. Certainly with Coach Bieser and all of the candidates we discussed the future of Mizzou Baseball and what that entails. It starts with providing him the ability to put together a great staff. We need to take a look at the operational budget and making sure the budget is right. Make sure he has what he needs to recruit and find players. There's certainly that commitment. We'll also look at the facility and some short-term things. There's been some discussion about the field surface here and if that's something that we take care of immediately. We also want to look at the overall stadium. We'll have more discussions of what will become a priority short term and long term."
Mizzou Baseball Head Coach Steve Bieser
Opening statement…
"I'm very excited about this job. This has been a dream job of mine just like Mack said. The University of Missouri is a special place for me. I was born and raised in this state. I always looked at this as the pinnacle of college baseball and being able to coach here. I feel very blessed and starting with my family. My wife, Diane, she's my rock. I couldn't have done everything that I've accomplished so far without her. I guarantee you that. My kids are outstanding. My son Cole, my daughter Whitley, daughter Briley and daughter Carley."
"I'm very honored and very humbled to be standing before you as the head baseball coach at the University of Missouri. The storied tradition here of Mizzou Baseball. I'm excited to be a part of that. We eluded to this earlier, as there's been three coaches here in the last 79 years. That's a lot to live up to. I look at that as a blessing and an opportunity to bounce ideas Coach Jamieson and Coach McArtor. To be able to use them as resources and find out things that we can do better and not do things wrong in this program."
"Before I get too far, I want to express my deepest gratitude to President Middleton, the Board of Curators, Interim Chancellor Foley, Athletic Director Mack Rhoades and the entire search committee. It was a tough process. I can guarantee you that. This guy (Rhoades) put my through the ringer and it was tough but it made me a better person and it made me understand how committed he is to the University of Missouri and the baseball program. I'm extremely grateful and appreciative of this opportunity. I do not take this lightly."
New #Mizzou head coach @biesersr is committed to excellence.#MIZ ???? pic.twitter.com/KL7Vci9BRe
— #MizzouBaseball (@MizzouBaseball) July 1, 2016
"I'm sure a lot of people are thinking what is going to define this Mizzou Baseball program. There's four cornerstones that every time I've taken over a program that I hang my hat on. Faith is number one. When I talk about that I'm referring to the core values of our players. The integrity and character that I want our players to represent. Self-worth, purpose and respect are also very important in our program. That's where we're going to start. It's going to all start internally. That's something we're going to be extremely strong in. Family is extremely important to me. Our guys are going to appreciate their personal families and make them a part of this program. That then reaches out to the families in this Columbia community. We're going to be a part of this community as a baseball program. We're also here because of education and that's my number three value. I talk about education in the classroom. I've never coached a team that underachieved academically. I guarantee they will be the best that they possibly can be in the classroom. Education on the field and in between the lines is where I'm most comfortable. They are going to have the best possible baseball education that you can have anywhere in the country. I promise you that. Our staff will deliver what they need to do every single day. The last piece of the four core values is service. I want our guys to know what service is all about. We're going to serve in the community and serve one another to be the best that we can be. It starts in the locker room and players holding each other accountable. We're going to do it one day at a time. We know the one constant factor out there is time. Everybody has the same amount of time. We're going to use ours efficiently and never take it for granted."
"We talk about the commitment for excellence. That has been the motto for every one of my teams. It's not about being the best, it's about being the best you. We want to get the most out of every player in our program. I will encourage and motivate them to be the best that they can be. I'm a firm believer that you can't be committed to excellence if you're not committed to every other part of your life. That's why it all starts in the classroom and community. Those are the things we're going to establish in this program. We need complete buy in from our guys."
"I use the acronym F.A.C.E.S. in what our program should look like. The 'F' stands for fight. You'll see a team that will never give up and think that they're out of any game. We're going to have complete faith and fight in our program. 'A' stands for attitude. Our attitude must be positive all the time. I got my first tour of Mizzou's facilities last night. If you can't be proud of the University of Missouri and the facilities we're providing to our student-athletes then there's something wrong. They're very fortunate to walk in that clubhouse and locker room and share this with one another. 'C' stands for consistency. Every single day we're going to work hard and stay the course. There's going to be ups and downs but we're going to stay the course. 'E' stands for effort. Our effort will be unmatched. No one will outhustle us, no one will outwork us and no one is going to be tougher than us in the country. The last thing is 'S' for service. We talk about servant leadership. I'm going to give you everything you need every single day. I'm going to be present and listening to build that total person. Every place I've been at we've developed the 'total person' and that has resulted in winning."
"It's time to get started. We're going to get started as quick as we can. We're going to get a staff in place. The outpour of applicants for this staff the last 24 hours has been unbelievable. We're going to go through and make sure that those original guys I planned on with this staff our in fact the best guys. We're going to check every person out there and build that coaching chemistry. It's going to be an excellent staff to play for and our players are going to be excited about what we're about to put together."
"I want to get connected with our former players here at Mizzou. What a rich tradition of baseball here. Three first round MLB draft picks and 10 Major Leaguers. That's a rich tradition of baseball. Not many programs can say that they've had that. The success that the guys in the big leagues are having. It's outstanding and I want to connect with them quickly. I want to bring them into our program and let them know that they have input here."
Check out pictures from this morning's introductory press conference for @biesersr
— #MizzouBaseball (@MizzouBaseball) July 1, 2016
??: https://t.co/4VqXroeuIp#MIZ pic.twitter.com/7KJ0rDThcX
"Lastly, the community is something that myself, my wife and my family hold important. We want to go out and serve. We want to build excitement in this baseball program. We know there's going to be ups and downs and we hope everyone stays the course through this. There's some things we have to take care of but I know we're going to be very relevant in the SEC. When I talk about competing in the SEC, I know I have ultimate confidence that this program is going to rise to the top. This is a program that's going to find itself in the College World Series."
On the jump from coaching at SEMO to coaching at Mizzou and the SEC…
"The competition in the SEC is what drives me to be here. I want to be in the best baseball conference in the country. I want to compete at that level. I want our guys to understand what it's like to compete at the highest level. I'm not intimidated by the SEC. Our players will never be intimidated by the SEC. I can guarantee you that. That's the mindset that starts from day one and I feel very confident about us being able to compete very early on."
On the challenge of playing in the Midwest during the offseason and early on in the regular season…
"It's an advantage. I want tough-minded kids that won't let the weather affect them. We're going to be outside that time of the year like everyone else will be outside then. 32 degrees in January isn't going to phase us whatsoever. We're going to be out there practicing and playing. We know we're going to play in some cold games throughout the year and we've got to learn how to train in that. The weather where we're located isn't an issue to me."
On the current Mizzou roster and how competitive they can be…
"Obviously, any new coach will look at their new roster and try to figure out what's there and what's needed. That's the most important thing and we need to figure out where the gaps are and what we need to add. Those are things that we're looking at right now. What gives me confidence about competing is how we're going to go about it. The process. We need a deeper roster then what we have now. That's a fact. We're going to create a deeper roster and that starts with winning. You got to be able to go out and win ballgames. We're going to find ways to win. I think as a staff one thing we'll develop is offensively. We saw some guys take a step back offensively last year but we saw in year one that they were able to compete and have real good years. The goal is to get them to bounce back immediately in their third year of competition. That's where you see a lot of guys make a big jump and that's exciting to me."
On his role of increasing fan interest of Mizzou Baseball…
"Being visible is the most important thing. I think being out in the community helps. I think it starts with our student body and creating interest there. I think there's things that we can do here that I've seen when competing against other SEC schools while at Southeast Missouri. How they generate fan interest and finding ways to get people out to games. Once we get people out here then we can get that momentum going. Winning ballgames and creating an exciting atmosphere and making it a place that people want to be at. That's the goal."
On winning a state title with Vianney High School at Taylor Stadium and how that started his dream of one day coaching at Mizzou…
"When I left professional baseball in 2001 and took the job at Vianney High School, I knew the level that I ultimately wanted to coach. It was college baseball. I had opportunities to stay in pro baseball and coach there, but I had no interest in stating at the bottom of the minor leagues and working my way up. It's not a great family life. We (Vianney) came to Columbia in year number one and won a state championship. I knew one day I wanted to be back at this field and coaching on this field. I knew it was going to take a long time. Coach Jamieson, a legend here, was having great success but I knew I was a little bit younger and it might one day happen. My goal was always to get back to the University of Missouri and coaching this program."
