2008 Woodie Awards
New coach sparks excitement
Brian Murphy
Issue date: 6/16/08 Section: Sports
Thursday's hiring of Terry Rooney as the UCF Baseball coach must have provided some sort of relief for the Knights, who are recovering from a bizarre 2008 season.
From the 19-1 start, to the firing of head coach Jay Bergman, to the quick end to the season in the Conference USA Championship, the Knights needed something positive heading into 2009 and hope they have found it in the energetic Rooney.
"He sounds pretty confident and excited," pitcher Kyle Sweat said after Thursday's press conference. "I think that's what we need, some excitement and a little spark to get us going. Hopefully he brings it. I don't know much about him, but if he does what he says, we're going to be well off."
Rooney said he had not met with the players at the time of Thursday's introduction, but both parties seemed very eager to get to know one another. And Rooney had some initial messages for his newest players.
"For those players standing back there I hope to be meeting soon, here's the first thing I'm going to tell you: Winning is a byproduct of doing things the right way," Rooney said. "Not sometimes, all the time. That's the point I'm going to get across to this group of players."
Rooney will replace interim coach Craig Cozart, who was fired Friday.
The one player who probably knows Rooney better than any other Knight is catcher Rob Lara. Lara transferred to UCF after spending two seasons with the Louisiana State Tigers, where Rooney has been a coach since 2006.
While Lara did say that he is saddened that Cozart wasn't given a full season as a head coach, he also said that he's looking forward to the future with Rooney.
"He is all about pushing the kids on doing the right thing and working your [butt] off," Lara said in an e-mail. "… He is a fireball, but always seems collected. I hope the best to Cozart and [hitting coach Bryan Peters] because they are great coaches, but I know that Rooney will lead UCF to great success."
From the 19-1 start, to the firing of head coach Jay Bergman, to the quick end to the season in the Conference USA Championship, the Knights needed something positive heading into 2009 and hope they have found it in the energetic Rooney.
"He sounds pretty confident and excited," pitcher Kyle Sweat said after Thursday's press conference. "I think that's what we need, some excitement and a little spark to get us going. Hopefully he brings it. I don't know much about him, but if he does what he says, we're going to be well off."
Rooney said he had not met with the players at the time of Thursday's introduction, but both parties seemed very eager to get to know one another. And Rooney had some initial messages for his newest players.
"For those players standing back there I hope to be meeting soon, here's the first thing I'm going to tell you: Winning is a byproduct of doing things the right way," Rooney said. "Not sometimes, all the time. That's the point I'm going to get across to this group of players."
Rooney will replace interim coach Craig Cozart, who was fired Friday.
The one player who probably knows Rooney better than any other Knight is catcher Rob Lara. Lara transferred to UCF after spending two seasons with the Louisiana State Tigers, where Rooney has been a coach since 2006.
While Lara did say that he is saddened that Cozart wasn't given a full season as a head coach, he also said that he's looking forward to the future with Rooney.
"He is all about pushing the kids on doing the right thing and working your [butt] off," Lara said in an e-mail. "… He is a fireball, but always seems collected. I hope the best to Cozart and [hitting coach Bryan Peters] because they are great coaches, but I know that Rooney will lead UCF to great success."