The Voice of the Knights, Marc Daniels focused one of his columns in KnightVision on head coach Terry Rooney and the UCF baseball program.
Walk into Terry Rooney's office and you will quickly notice a framed poster on his wall. It's a reminder to Rooney of a magical summer and it serves as a vision for his new team. The poster is from the 2008 College World Series. UCF's new baseball coach will be more than happy to talk about his run as pitching coach at LSU and how the Tigers reached the game's ultimate event. But he will also convince you that Omaha can and will be the goal of his new team. After all, if you don't believe you can get to Rosenblatt Stadium, you can't play for Terry Rooney.
"I'll tell people there is no reason to not believe that UCF can reach the College World Series," Rooney said. "We can do it and I don't want our players to be scared to talk about it."
And that's what you will learn about when it comes to Rooney. His enthusiasm is infectious and his energy has no end. He knows it takes more than a few good traits to take a team that has not won since its move to Conference USA to the College World Series.
"It takes talent and an administration that believes in your mission, and I have no doubt we have that support and we will build a talented team," said Rooney.
But beyond the poster that hangs in that office is a man more than ready for the challenge as a first year head coach.
Most young baseball players dream of making it to the big leagues. Terry Rooney grew up a Red Sox fan. So it would be natural to think Rooney dreamed of taking the mound in the middle of a pennant race in September and challenge the hated Yankees on a late Saturday afternoon at historic Fenway Park. Not so. While others were dreaming, UCF's new diamond leader was planning a different career path.
"I knew I was supposed to be a coach. So I took advantage of every opportunity to learn from the game's best coaches," Rooney said. "I love to teach and I love to see the results of a team that buys into a vision of how to play the game."
At Radford as a player, Rooney started plotting his future.
"I remember getting a copy of the NCAA News," said Rooney. "I would turn to the back pages and look under the job listings and see who had an opening for head coach, assistant coach, pitching coach...any job."
Along the way Rooney stopped at the likes of George Washington, Old Dominion, James Madison and Stetson. He would later shine as pitching coach at national powers Notre Dame and LSU.
"So many great coaches have had an impact on me," said Rooney. "I've been fortunate to work with head coaches that total over 3,000 wins. And I've taken a piece of every great coach to put my vision together."
So after working for others, Rooney now becomes the head man of a program that has a foundation he believes has no limits.
"The facilities are here. The players will come. The fans will come as we win. And that is the reason we can be as good as we believe," said Rooney.
Rooney's philosophy sounds simple. If you believe you can win then the battle to win will favor you. And make sure every time you come to the ballpark be prepared to make things happen that allow you to win.
"I want a team that celebrates a walk-off homer. I want a pitcher that fist pumps a called-third strike," said Rooney. "It's ok to show emotion. That builds team chemistry and a strong team chemistry is part of the formula to being a great team."
Like UCF's basketball program, you might have to go outside the Orlando market and talk to college baseball people to get a true view of what UCF can be.
"I can tell you people know about UCF and they know the potential this program has," Rooney said. "We play in a great conference and have some of the best high school and youth programs in the country in our backyard. Other head coaches know just how good this program can be."
And how good UCF will be this season is still unknown. The Knights return plenty of experienced players. But those players have not experienced a lot of success. And you won't get Rooney to talk about specifics when it comes to his players. His is a team-first guy all the way.
He will challenge his players to compete everyday on the field and he will challenge them mentally to expect a positive outcome.
So what about that national championship stuff? Well here's a thought for a moment. The BCS structure of the college football game has made very difficult for any non-BCS team to get into a BCS game, let alone the title game. UCF basketball plays in a league that, at the moment, is a one-bid conference for the Big Dance. That means an at-large spot likely lands you with a seed that makes the journey to the Final Four a monumental challenge. In baseball, Fresno State won the national title in 2008. The Bulldogs were a four-seed in their regional. That would be the equivalent of a 13th to 16th seed in basketball.
UCF's baseball team plays in a league that typically gets 4-5 bids to the NCAA Tournament. Get hot with the bats and bring some pitching and anything can happen in a regional and then anything can really happen in a super regional.
So back to that poster that hangs on the wall in Terry Rooney's office. To hear Rooney talk, it is easy to believe his message and understand his passion. You can get a sense that he knows the road to building a powerhouse program is one that will have challenges and obstacles to overcome. But in time, the belief will become reality and when that happens, Omaha is no longer just a dream.