Monte Lee on Clemson missing the postseason: "I've failed our club" |
Monte Lee has been around baseball for a long time and isn’t used to missing the postseason, but Lee will miss it this year for the first time in his 13 years as a head coach. A proud Clemson program will also miss the NCAA Tournament this postseason, for just the second time that has happened since 1987, and Lee told the media Tuesday that he feels like he has failed his team.
No. 7 seed Louisville hit seven homers and defeated No. 11 seed Clemson 15-10 at Truist Field in Charlotte Tuesday afternoon, ending any shot the Tigers had at making the NCAA Tournament field. The Tigers entered the game with a 24-26 record – under .500 thanks to a three-game sweep at the hands of Duke last weekend at home – and knew they needed to win the ACC Championship or at the very least make the championship game in order to have a shot. Instead, the Tigers lost for the ninth time in the last 11 games. With Clemson eliminated from the ACC Tournament, Wednesday’s Georgia Tech game will be its last of the season. The loss ensured the Tigers’ first losing season since 1957, one year before Hall of Fame head coach Bill Wilhelm came to Clemson. Lee said his message to his team is simple. “I think the biggest message is we have one game left. I think it's pretty simple,” Lee said. “We've got one game left. From pitch one until the game is over, let's cheer for each other, let's have great dugout energy, let's have a lot of fun. This will be the last game for this team for this year and everybody bring as much energy as they can for each other and let's go play baseball. It's pretty simple.” It also means Clemson will not earn an NCAA Tournament bid for the first time since 2008. The Tigers had made the previous 11 NCAA Tournaments, one of just four schools in the country that could claim such. This will be just the second time the Tigers have not played in the NCAAs since 1987. They have played in 33 of the previous 34. “It seems really weird. This is my 13th year as a head coach and my expectation as a head coach is to always be in the postseason and we've had a nice run here at Clemson of being in the postseason,” Lee said. “I don't know if weird is the right word or not. I think it's just trying to come to grips with it, quite honestly. The reality of it is really, really hard right now.” Lee then went on to say that he feels like he failed his club. “I've got to look at myself first. You guys know this, I'm going to be very accountable for everything in this program, so I'm going to look at myself first and look as we get through tomorrow at what do I have to do a better job of,” he said. “What do we as a coaching staff have to do a better job of to prepare our guys for next year? For the players in this program who will be back, (what do we have to do) so we put them in a position to be successful and play in the postseason because we have a lot of really good players in here. “We've got some young guys in this program that are oustanding players and they have expectations of playing in the postseason as well, so I failed them. That's the bottom line. I failed our club and I didn't do a good enough job of putting them in a position to be successful and getting into the postseason. For me, that's the feeling right now. "I feel like I've failed our club. I know what the expectations are and I haven't lived up to that standard and that expectation this year and I'm going to do everything that I can to fix some of these issues. I just need to do a better job as the head coach and the leader of the program. I don't know if weird is the right word. It's more that I feel pretty disappointed in myself. I've got look at myself in the mirror first and foremost.” Caden Grice, who homered twice Tuesday, said Lee shouldn’t think he’s failed his players. “He teaches us to take responsibility for ourselves and that's him setting a good example for us and the team,” Grice said. “He's done a great job and I think it comes down to us performing on the field. I don't think it (Lee saying he failed the team) has anything to do with that.”
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