Tigers still a work in process under Monte Lee in Year 2

Monte Lee made the transition from coaching legend Jack Leggett look easy in Year 1, maybe too easy.

The Clemson baseball coach won the 2016 ACC Tournament in his first season at the helm and earned a national seed in the NCAAs, where the Tigers bowed out in a home regional.

The expectation and identity, though, were established: Clemson was going to get back to being a perennial challenger in the ACC, and reaching the College World Series is and will always be the goal under Lee.

As the 2017 regular season came to a close Saturday, the Tigers might not be there yet.

They lost four of their final five ACC series and limp into next week’s ACC Tournament in Louisville fighting to host an NCAA regional.

“It’s a day-by-day process with a team,” Lee said. “We still have a ways to go in different areas fundamentally, but the one thing I’ll say about the kids that we have recruited in the program and the kids that I inherited into the program, I don’t know if I could’ve inherited a better group of kids for my first two years.”

Deep into his second year, Lee, who was the coach at his alma mater College of Charleston and an assistant on Ray Tanner’s staff at South Carolina before coming to Clemson in 2015, said he feels like his program is on the right track.

“I’m very happy with our guys. I’m happy with where we’re at as a program, but we know we’ve still got work to do,” Lee said. “We’ve still got some things that we need to do fundamentally as a team.”

Lee’s footprint on the program is the relationship he builds with his players.

“I think of him as almost like a father figure,” sophomore outfielder Seth Beer said. “When he talks, I always listen because it’s something good. He’s always in my corner and in my teammates’ corner. That’s growing on us as players and making us not only better as players but better individuals throughout this process.”

For Lee, it’s all about making sure his players enjoy coming to the ballpark every day and suiting up for him. When they leave the program, he hopes they take a memorable experience with them.

“This team has unreal chemistry,” outfielder Reed Rohlman said. “We’re hard on each other when we need to be, but then we also pat you on the back when you’re doing good.”

That’s a result of Lee’s coaching style. He’s created that atmosphere despite many of these Tigers being Leggett recruits.

“I hope they’ve enjoyed playing for me as a head coach. I’ve cared an awful lot about them and will continue to care about them because they’re my guys,” Lee said. “I take a lot of pride in kids when they play here.”

On Senior Day last week, Clemson honored eight players, including outfielder and leading hitter Reed Rohlman and ace pitcher Charlie Barnes, both who have a year of eligibility left. Other juniors, like center fielder Chase Pinder and catcher Chris Williams, are likely gone as well, leaving Lee with mostly players he’s recruited to Clemson.

“The thing I’m trying to do with this team, and every team is different, is getting them to embrace each other every single day because once this season is over, this team is over,” Lee said. “Then we’ve got to start all over.”

Beer will be back for Lee’s third season, and infielders Logan Davidson and Grayson Byrd have a year under their belts with Lee. They’ll help teach the new group of players what Lee worked so hard to instill a year ago.

Lee’s next test is showing he can do it exclusively with his recruits. He still wants “more complete players,” power arms and better athletes, but he’s quick to point out that “every program can say that.”

Before he looks too far ahead, Clemson has several goals on the table this postseason, and Lee is aware that’s how he’ll be judged. It’s all about wins and losses.

He’s seen that at USC, which could miss an NCAA regional for the second time in three seasons.

Lee said he’s kept up with what’s gone on with the Gamecocks’ tumultuous campaign through social media and the news, and sympathizes with the struggles and pressure coach Chad Holbrook and the team have dealt with this season.

“I feel for any coach and I feel for coach Holbrook,” Lee said. “I know they’ve had some tough weeks here. I wish him nothing but the best because you don’t wish tough times on anybody.

“You feel like as a coach, you’re the reason things aren’t going well. When we win ball games, it’s because of the kids. When we lose, it’s because of (coaches).”