CLEMSON BASEBALL

Monte Lee looking to move past the 'absolute hell' that was the 2021 season
Lee wants the 2022 team to be player-led.

Monte Lee looking to move past the 'absolute hell' that was the 2021 season


by - Senior Writer -

Monte Lee peered out of the dugout late last week and watched his players take the final swings of batting practice, the sound of the ball meeting bat mingling with the typical laughs and good-natured insults that make up a baseball team. Lee stared out at the field, hoping better for 2022 while acknowledging that 2021 wasn’t easy.

Lee had the perfect word for last season.

“Look, last year was absolute hell. That’s just the truth, and we all know that,” Lee said. “But I’ve moved on from last year. Hopefully, I’ve learned from last year, right? If I haven’t learned from last year, then something’s wrong. So, you make a lot of mistakes. You learn from it. You hold yourself accountable than anybody else.

“I am the head baseball coach at Clemson. Last year, was not good. I know that. I have taken responsibility for that” Lee said. “I didn't make any excuses about it. I am accountable for it. But now, it is time to move on and get this team ready. That is my focus right now.”

The Tigers missed the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2008, and just the second time in 35 years. The program has been to 12 College World Series and has nine Super Regional appearances, but none of either since the 2010 season.

Lee won the ACC in his first year as skipper but hasn’t come close to repeating that success. That team was led by veterans like Chris Okey and Pat Krall, mixed in with a talented group of youngsters like Seth Beer. Lee wants the 2022 team to be a little more like that 2016 team with the players leading the way.

“I told them this, the first team practice, my goal is to not have a lot of team meetings,” Lee said. “We had a lot of team meetings last year, If I’m having a lot of team meetings, that means I’m trying to lead the team and I’m trying to get the guys going in the right direction because I see that it’s not going in the right direction. We’re just trying to get the guys to lead the program.”

Sophomore first baseman Caden Grice told us that there is a new attitude surrounding the program, and the motto for this season is “Toughness over talent.” The players have made shirts with that mantra on the front, and “Respect the game” on the back.

To Lee, the respect part means more than just the play on the field. It means policing the locker room and hitting cages and demanding the best out of your teammates, each and every day.

“You gotta be able to have those uncomfortable conversations with your teammates, for the guys who aren’t doing what they are supposed to do,” Lee said. “You can’t respect the game if you can’t respect everything about it.”

That doesn’t mean that Lee is going to be any less of a leader.

“Every day, making sure I am doing my job of making sure, as a coaching staff, that I am leading our coaches, I am leading our players and getting them better and putting ourselves in a position to be successful,” he said.

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