Goff sets tone early in fall baseball practice

University of Alabama baseball players didn’t have to wonder long what practices with Greg Goff would be like. The new head coach wanted to start fall practice at Sewell-Thomas Stadium early, and he wanted to set the tone.

So the Crimson Tide took the field just four weeks into the fall semester on Monday for its first fall practice.

“It’s a new feel this year,” senior pitcher Nick Eicholtz said. “Energy, attitude, focus. He’s a different guy. He’s high-energy all the time. There’s no downtime with him. But I really, really like it so far.”

Goff’s focus for players this fall will be on installing his base-running system, a defensive scheme and developing the offensive approach he uses. But he preaches intensity to his assistant coaches, hoping the players will follow.

“They watch our coaching staff, and that was the first thing when I walked out of the building today,” Goff said. “I said, ‘Make sure our guys are seeing a lot of energy and passion.’ That’s not just for today. It’ll be like this every day. When I go home, I collapse. But I’m going to give my players everything I’ve got as a coach.”

Goff took to the diamond in a fresh crimson baseball cap and a clean practice jersey. By the end of practice, both ran dark with sweat.

The team has a handful of returning pieces from last year’s team which finished .500 in SEC play but missed the NCAA tournament. Eicholtz and junior Jake Walters, both weekend starters last year, are back. Outfielder Chandler Taylor led the team with 20 extra-base hits as a freshman in 2015. Cobie Vance and Chandler Avant were starters in the middle of the infield last year, and first baseman Cody Henry returns as well.

“I’m excited about all the guys on the team, all the young guys, a few older guys, guys from my class coming back,” Henry said. “It’s going to be exciting to see it.”

Goff was excited with what he found. His previous jobs at Louisiana Tech, Campbell University and Montevallo were all rebuilds. He said Alabama’s roster was in better shape than when he began his other head coaching stops.

There’s still adjusting to be done, though. He’s added several new rules that apply to players on and off the field. The team had to earn its way into the locker room with its conditioning work earlier this semester. Players are required to sit in the first two rows of their classes, and must be clean shaven. He wants the same attention to detail when players take the field.

“He’s old school,” Henry said. “I think that’s what we need in this program. He definitely brings that to the field every day.”

A few players needed to be reminded to keep their intensity level up, but Goff was pleased with most of what he saw as practice began. There’s a lot of work to be done in the next month of practice. But Goff is looking forward to each day.

“I just want to have fun. This is a gift from God,” he said. “It’s an opportunity to come out here each and every day, be at the University of Alabama, and I want our players to have that same mentality when they come out in that dugout. This is a gift. And if we can do that every day and appreciate that opportunity of coming out here, our attitude to be good, our effort to be good, then the wins will come. I want our guys to see that from me.”

Reach Ben Jones at ben@tidesports.com or 205-722-0196.

University of Alabama fall baseball practices and scrimmages are open to the public. The team's first scrimmages will be held on Friday and Saturday at Sewell-Thomas Stadium from. Practice on Friday is scheduled to run from 2:30-3:30 with the scrimmage running from 3:30-5:30, weather permitting. Fans can enter through the main gate behind home plate and sit in the lower bowl seating area.