As Auburn tries to battle back from the brink, Butch Thompson finds advice from coaches who’ve done it before | Auburn University Sports News

OMAHA, Neb. — Butch Thompson was sitting down in his resort area Sunday evening, asking yourself.

Of the previous 40 Higher education Planet Collection Champions, only 4 of them have missing their initially activity in Omaha.

It’s a little something Thompson described subsequent Auburn’s Saturday decline to Ole Overlook — “It’s a tall order,” Thompson claimed then — and now his group was in the same placement. But he puzzled, who were the 4?

In 1998, Mike Gillespie did it with Southern California. In 2010, it was Ray Tanner with South Carolina, and in 2006 and 2018, it was Pat Casey with Oregon State.

“I was, like, Okay, Pat Casey did it in ‘06 and ‘18, and Tanner did it in ‘10,” Thompson recalled Monday. “How about I connect with them tonight because I’m sitting below?”

Thompson said each Casey and Tanner received back again to him with “paragraphs” that walked him via their teams’ journeys.

Tanner’s 2010 South Carolina crew shed 4-3 in its first match in opposition to Oklahoma, but gained six straight versus Arizona Point out, Oklahoma, Clemson and UCLA to finally clinch its title. The Gamecocks’ next get over the Sooners was a 3-2 gain in 12 innings, and their title-clinching match towards the Bruins was a 2-1 gain in 11.

Casey’s 1st crew, in 2006, misplaced to Miami, but eventually beat the Hurricanes, Ga and Rice in 4 contests to progress to a a few-game series in opposition to North Carolina. In 2018, the Beavers missing their first sport to North Carolina, but conquer the Tar Heels, Washington and Mississippi Point out in 4 online games to progress to a 3-video game collection and eventual title towards Arkansas.

“Those adult males,” Thompson said, “It was like they had been psyched to listen to from me and they’re like ‘Yeah, this is what we did. This is what we talked about. This became our concentrate.’”

Thompson did not divulge any details — “I mentioned I was likely to help save it for my reserve some day” — but it was “nothing you’ve by no means listened to in advance of,” Thompson explained, and the Auburn skipper imagined the information confirmed how his staff members had crafted their group and method.

“It’s additional about will,” Thompson reported. “It’s a lot more about having danger as opposed to just sitting again and allowing the sport come about. You’ve bought to go get wins in its place of laying back again and hoping a gain will slide in your lap. So we have received to just preserve attacking.

“I consider we’ve experienced the correct messaging. The club’s built well, chemistry-intelligent and we require some breaks, and we just have to have some guys to keep on to set us in superior place, enjoy very good ball, but we have obtained to retain likely for it.”