Chad Caillet and Justin Parker have jumped right in at South Carolina.
Caillet, the Gamecocks’ new hitting coach and recruiting coordinator, and Parker, the new pitching coach, started off their first weeks on the recruiting trail, hopping on FaceTime calls with current players, meeting everyone in the building and finding new places to live.
It’s quite a bit to take in all at once, especially at the tail end of the summer baseball cycle.
“It’s been a crazy transition just because of the time frame,” Caillet said.
Caillet spent his first days at South Carolina focused on recruiting. In his 24th year of coaching, Caillet joined head coach Mark Kingston’s staff after a two-year spell at Texas A&M. He produced multiple top 25 recruiting classes during his 12-year stint at Conference USA’s Southern Miss and left a No. 11 class at Texas A&M before heading to Columbia. South Carolina’s 2021 class is currently ranked No. 16 nationally.
It’s easy for Caillet to evaluate a prospect’s physical traits and assess his baseball IQ. He wants to dive deep into a recruit’s mental makeup — a more difficult task, he says. Knowing the gauntlet of SEC baseball, Caillet tells families he gets just as much out of seeing a prospect’s failure as he does success.
“I want to see how they handle those failures because you are going to fail at this level,” Caillet said. “There’s no question, those crossroads are going to come. The better mental player has the ability to push through.”
“A lot of times, I think we’re like rookie psychologists,” Parker agreed.
Parker saw quick success at both of his previous stops in Indiana and UCF, leading the Hoosiers’ pitching staff to a 3.17 ERA in 2021, his third season in Bloomington. Parker has produced 20 MLB Draft pitchers, with nine going in the first 10 rounds.
Parker’s looking forward to developing the Gamecocks’ staff and said he wants to produce 15 to 18 elite pitchers, extending past just a few quality starters and a good closer. He knows the old adage of opposing hitting coaches — “Let’s get to the bullpen” — and wants to challenge it.
“I want the bullpen to be a nightmare when you get to it,” Parker said.
Caillet’s offensive philosophy is all about balance. He said his previous experience with the SEC has taught him to be prepared for some of the country’s best pitching, so he looks for the perfect mix of left- and right-handed bats, a multi-dimensional offense capable of more than just home runs and the ability to put on the pressure.
Caillet has evaluated what South Carolina is bringing in with its 2021 recruiting class and has taken that knowledge with him as he crafts the balance he’s seeking in Columbia.
“(The philosophy) is just to have that terrific balance of options on your roster, so we can go head on with any opponent that may obviously be a bit of a struggle,” Caillet said.
Both Caillet and Parker said the earliest challenge has been just learning names and building connections with current players. Caillet has met some players virtually, and others have come into the building to say hello. The challenges are fun, Caillet said, but creating trust is still a process.
The Gamecocks have moved in for the fall semester, and skill instruction will begin shortly after the first day of school on Friday. The first practices can’t come soon enough for Parker.
“I think we’re all looking forward to getting settled, getting back on the field,” Parker said. “That’s what we are. That’s what we love to do.”