{"id":1112,"date":"2010-06-02T05:35:00","date_gmt":"2010-06-02T05:35:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lbpost.com\/articles\/sports\/emotional-buckley-introduced-as-new-dirtbags-coach\/"},"modified":"2010-06-02T05:35:00","modified_gmt":"2010-06-02T05:35:00","slug":"emotional-buckley-introduced-as-new-dirtbags-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/emotional-buckley-introduced-as-new-dirtbags-coach","title":{"rendered":"Emotional Buckley Introduced As New Dirtbags Coach"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><font face=\"Helvetica, helvetica, clean, sans-serif\"><span style=\"font-size:10pt; line-height: normal;\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><img decoding=\"async\"  src=\"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/06\/s_image1275453841-85163.jpg\" align=\"right\" style=\"width: 310px; border-top-width: 1px; border-right-width: 1px; border-bottom-width: 1px; border-left-width: 1px; border-top-style: solid; border-right-style: solid; border-bottom-style: solid; border-left-style: solid; border-top-color: black; border-right-color: black; border-bottom-color: black; border-left-color: black; margin-top: 4px; margin-right: 4px; margin-bottom: 4px; margin-left: 4px; \" alt=\"\">If you were setting your schedule of press conferences for the month of June, you probably wouldn\u2019t have marked the introduction of Troy Buckley as the Dirtbags\u2019 seventh head coach as one to keep your eye on. &nbsp;After all, Buckley signed a contract a year ago that was pretty explicitly setting him up as Mike Weathers\u2019 successor\u2014both Weathers and athletic director Vic Cegles said as much. &nbsp;The university announcement of the press conference to introduce Buckley came like clockwork after Weathers\u2019 final game, a game Weathers essentially let Buckley run. &nbsp;With both Cegles and president F. King Alexander away on other business (Senior Associate Athletics Director Bill Brady handled the prologue duties), it seemed like Tuesday\u2019s presser was fated to be a cut-and-dry efficient transfer of power.<\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\"><o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">And then Troy Buckley walked to the podium, and his voice cracked in the first sentence he spoke. &nbsp;\u201cThis is a big deal,\u201d he said, voice full of emotion. &nbsp;\u201cIt means a lot.\u201d &nbsp;Buckley tried to laugh it off, saying, \u201cI tell our players not to be emotional, but here I am.\u201d &nbsp;But the message was clear\u2014expected or not, this was a big deal, both for Buckley, and for the Dirtbags family.<o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">For Buckley, it\u2019s both a professional and a personal state of perfection. &nbsp;Professionally, he\u2019s a head coach for the first time, and at a university he believes in, with a program he helped add a healthy coat of luster to. &nbsp;Personally, Buckley seemed happy at reaching a place of security, and comfort, for he and his children. &nbsp;He had to pause for a lengthy period in talking about how resilient they\u2019ve been through some familial challenges.<o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">For the Dirtbags family, it\u2019s the continuation of a school of thought that\u2019s set the team apart from other colleges. &nbsp;\u201cWe are a unique group,\u201d Buckley said, speaking to the team\u2019s fans more than its returning players. &nbsp;\u201cOld school is still the basis of our game.\u201d &nbsp;He spoke at length on the meaning of the Dirtbags legacy, the kind of speech fans were clamoring for after this year\u2019s disappointing finish from a team that didn\u2019t play much of anything that resembled Dirtbags baseball.<o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">\u201cSigning a letter of intent here,\u201d he said, \u201cdoesn\u2019t mean you\u2019re a Dirtbag\u2014you have to put the time in.\u201d<o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">After thanking the usual litany\u2014Weathers for his mentorship, his mother and father, the bulk of the athletic department\u2014Buckley laid it on the line. &nbsp;\u201cI wouldn\u2019t have come back from Pittsburgh if I didn\u2019t think we could win\u2026I understand Dirtbags baseball, and I want to get us back to where we need to go.\u201d<o:p><\/o:p><\/p>\n<p class=\"MsoNormal\">That path will likely be familiar\u2014Buckley stressed repeatedly he won\u2019t be implementing any wholesale changes in the regime change. &nbsp;Fans will likely expect the bulk of the improvement to come from recruiting, a portion of the job Buckley has already excelled at. &nbsp;Those same fans can rest assured that the man at the helm will not be taking the job lightly\u2014that much was obvious from his introduction to the public. &nbsp;To Troy Buckley, this job, and his position as caretaker of the school\u2019s most valuable brand, will always be \u201ca big deal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>  <!--EndFragment-->   <\/span><\/font><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Troy Buckley had known for a year that this day would come\u2014that didn\u2019t make it any less emotional for the seventh coach in Dirtbags history.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":16844,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"newspack_sponsor_sponsorship_scope":"","newspack_sponsor_native_byline_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_native_category_display":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_style":"inherit","newspack_sponsor_underwriter_placement":"inherit","inline_featured_image":false,"newspack_ads_suppress_ads":false,"newspack_popups_has_disabled_popups":"","_":"","_author_alias":"","cap-aim":"","cap-description":"","cap-display_name":"","cap-first_name":"","cap-jabber":"","cap-last_name":"","cap-linked_account":"","cap-newspack_employer":"","cap-newspack_job_title":"","cap-newspack_phone_number":"","cap-newspack_role":"","cap-user_email":"","cap-user_login":"","cap-website":"","cap-yahooim":"","newspack_article_summary":"","newspack_email_html":"","newspack_email_type":"","newspack_featured_image_position":"","newspack_hide_page_title":"","newspack_hide_updated_date":false,"newspack_post_subtitle":"","newspack_show_share_buttons":"","newspack_sponsor_byline_prefix":"","newspack_sponsor_disclaimer_override":"","newspack_sponsor_flag_override":"","newspack_sponsor_only_direct":"","newspack_sponsor_url":"","newspack_article_summary_title":"Overview:","newspack_show_updated_date":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"newspack_spnsrs_tax":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-1112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/16844"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1112"},{"taxonomy":"newspack_spnsrs_tax","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/newspack_spnsrs_tax?post=1112"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lbpost.com\/sports\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=1112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}