This pic was taken on Butch's first day at Auburn. I can already tell it's gonna be another FAILED hire on JJ's resume.
1) Wrinkled shirt - Won't even talk about the curious decision to go with business CASUAL. The wrinkled shirt, to me, indicates a degree of sloppiness but moreso lack of drive. You can tell he doesn't care about his job. Day 1 and guy is already complacent and not trying to impress anyone. That cavalier "eh, shirt's wrinkled, who cares?" attitude is not the type of attitude you see in WOLF-type coaches. Our entire program is at stake and JJ goes with a guy that doesn't even use starch when pressing his shirts? At least disguise your complacency by taking your shirt to the cleaners, you're not poor anymore. You think COACH SABAN walks around with an unpressed shirt? What kind of message do you think this will send to the players during spring training etc? Not one of professionalism or personal discipline...but that's JMHO.
2) Power stance elbow angle on handshake - You can tell by his elbow in this handshake that the guy is trying too hard to demonstrate to his new player that he's the "alpha", using an awkward angle in a desperate attempt to gain some leverage over the player with this power stance. The next time you shake hands with a CONFIDENT man, notice how his upper arm will extend TOWARDS you instead of extending outwards. Also note the seemingly unwavering death gaze - definitely trying to stare down the player, much like you're supposed to do with your dog to show him who's boss. These aren't DOGS coach. These are KIDS. To me, this guy has some major, major insecurity issues that could cause the team to fall apart or not take him seriously. I bet he's not even looking the kid in the eyes. Prolly just using that old trick where you're supposed to look between the person's eyebrows to give off the illusion you're looking them in the eyes because you can't look them in the eyes because they intimidate you so much. Maybe an undiagnosed God complex that could rear its ugly head prior to an 0-fer run in conference play? Also, why is he going with the handshake? That is a very conservative choice. Maybe he lacks the intensity we need. Bruce Pearl would've gone with a chest bump. I'm guessing "BUTCH" is a self-assigned moniker to evoke a macho aura that hides "BUTCH"'s craving to listen to Spice Girls B-SIDES.
3) Dangling belt end - While it does give off a sloppy appearance (amplified when combined with 1) above), what's more frightening to me is that I think it could point to poor decision-making. He went with a belt with a weighted end, which can cause the dangling appearance if worn with pants that don't have sufficient belt loop support. Maybe he just grabbed the first belt he saw. If this guy can't even dress himself in the morning, how can you expect him to make the right decision when the game is on the line? "Top of the 9th, up by 1 with a runner in scoring position...got a lefty batter coming up...who should I send to the mound...eh..just pick a guy and let's see what happens". That is NOT the kind of decision making that gets us to OMAHA, people.
4) Player wearing cap when meeting coach - Day 1 and this kid is wearing a baseball cap inside while meeting the new team skipper and BUTCH doesn't even correct him and tell him to take off his hat when addressing his elders. He's too busy jockeying for field position in the handshake battle with his elbow posturing. You want to talk about future discipline issues? This guy's tenure has it written ALL over him.
Anyways, you saw it here first.
