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 ROB
CHILDRESS - texas a&m aggies
PING!BASEBALL SPOTLIGHT COACH
It’s never easy to follow a legend.
Just ask Bob Davie what it was like to coach at Notre Dame
after Lou Holtz left campus. See if you can find a George
Lazenby blurb on how simple a task it was to fill Sean Connery’s
shoes as James Bond. Or harder still, imagine what it must
have been like for Hillary Swank to fill the gi worn by Ralph
Macchio when she became, “The Next Karate Kid”.
All were tough, tough, tough acts to follow. Yet when Rob
Childress took over the head coaching role at Texas A&M,
he wasn’t just following in the footsteps of one legend,
he was next in succession of a long lineage of Aggie greats.
There was Mark Johnson who led the team to a pair of College
World Series appearances (’93, ‘99) and four fifty-win
seasons, Tom Chandler who guided the team to the 1964 CWS
and five SWC Championships and Beau Bell who led A&M to
their first Series in 1951. Baseball and winning are not just
a tradition in College Station – it’s a fact of
life.
 When
Childress arrived on campus he wasn’t saddled with sky
high expectations, but instead welcomed with open arms and
the full support of the university and everyone surrounding
the program. Athletic director Bill Byrne and Johnson made
every concession to make sure Childress was comfortable assuming
control of the club and made him and his family feel at ease
in College Station. In Childress’ first year the team
went 25-30 and finished last in the Big 12, but there was
no worry the Aggies had the wrong man at the helm. Why should
there have been? Rebuilding and reorganization growing pains
often appear in a coach’s first season and everyone
knew that even an acclaimed school such as A&M was not
immune. Besides, Childress had been a proven winner everywhere
he had coached and Texas A&M was not going to be an exception.
Childress first got into collegiate coaching
at Texarkana Junior College. There he hooked up with (current
Arkansas Razorback head coach) Dave Van Horn and like Michael
Knight and KITT, the two became a powerful duo, nearly inseparable
for the next decade plus. The two of them made the jump together
to Northwestern State for their first gig at the DI level
in 1995. There the pair coached the Demons to a .712 winning
percentage in their first season and became hot commodities
to ensure their time in Natchitoches would be short lived
as they would be wooed by schools in stronger conferences
with bigger resources. In 1997, his last year at NSU, Childress
helped develop Brian Lawrence, who was drafted by San Diego
and won 15 games for the Padres in 2004. Lawrence was the
first Demon baseball player to make to the Major Leagues in
nearly fifty years.
Childress got his first high profile DI coaching
gig at Nebraska when Van Horn was tapped to lead the Huskers.
As Van Horn’s wingman they rebuilt the ‘Huskers
from a declining program with a 27-35 record into a perennial
power with a trio of College World Series appearances. Childress
was the associate head coach, recruiting coordinator, and
pitching coach for NU during the Husker renaissance. The Huskers
won their first regular-season conference title in 51 years
in 2001, thanks in large part to the Childress led pitching
staff. In 2002 Nebraska hurlers led the nation with a 3.14
ERA. While at Nebraska Childress coached three Big 12 Pitchers
of the Year (Shane Komine in 2000 and ‘01, Aaron Marsden
in ‘03), the Big 12 Freshman of the Year (Johnny Dorn
in ‘05) and the Big 12 Newcomer of the Year (some guy
named Joba Chamberlain in ’05). In his final year in
Lincoln the Husker pitchers finished the season with a dainty
2.69 team ERA to place fifth in the nation.
With such an impressive resumé as
an assistant coach and the defection of long time friend and
partner Van Horn to his home state of Arkansas, it wasn’t
long before someone was able to lure Childress into a head
coaching position. Byrne, who had met Childress back in Lincoln
when he was the Athletic Director for Nebraska, had Childress
on the top of a wish list of candidates. On June 27, 2005
the teaming of Childress and A&M baseball was made. A
combination that so far appears to be as a delightful mix
as when peanut butter was first serendipitously dropped into
chocolate.
A Texas native, Childress was ecstatic to
return to the Lone Star State. As a determined and proven
recruiter, he was able to mine the miles of Texas talent and
restore order to the Aggies. In fact, all most the entire
Aggie roster is filled with athletes who know where the stars
at night are big and bright. After one season, the roster
infused with Childress farmed and developed talent made an
incredible turnaround. The 2007 Aggies won A&M’s
first Big 12 title since 1999, the NCAA College Station Regional
and finished with a 48-19 record – a victory total 23
games greater than in 2006. Last season the Aggies kept on
keepin’ on, winning 46 games, the Big 12 regular-season
title and another Regional championship. For his part in the
success of the Maroon and White, Childress was named the Big
12's Coach of the Year.
The 2009 season looks to be another promising
one. Baseball America has tabbed the Aggies as their preseason
number one and Ping!Baseball has them just a shade below at
number four. Childress’ fingerprints are all over the
pitching staff with a deep and talented roster which will
challenge hitters from February to June. The pitching staff
boasts four hurlers who started at least 10 games last season
as well as sterling relievers Kyle Thebeau (2.12 ERA, 79 K
in 76 IP) and Travis Starling (8-2, 3.70, 9 SVs) who will
be looking to lead A&M back to Omaha for the first time
since 1999. With all the goose eggs Aggie pitchers expect
to put on the scoreboard, sluggers Luke Anders (.349, 16,
58) and Kyle Colligan (.317, 14, 39), who are team leaders
both on and off the field, will be able to relax at the plate.
The Aggies are a good pick to win their third Big 12 title
in four years under Childress with a deep postseason run a
more than decent possibility as well. Man... I feel for the
guy who has to replace Childress when he retires.
PREVIOUS COACH SPOTLIGHTS
2008
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