- Part two of the @Brenden Slaughter insider report
Happy Wednesday Edgers! With fall camp just a day away, I present to you Part 2 of the Oregon State Insider Report. While Part 1 of the Insider Report focused on the Oregon State football intel learned at Pac-12 Media Days, Part 2 will largely focus on the big picture of OSU athletics as I had a chance to catch up with Athletic Director Scott Barnes.
- Please keep in mind that this information is to stay here on The Dam Board
- I want to start off this post by saying that it was a pleasure to catch up with the Beavers’ AD as he was very excited for the upcoming athletics season and I could tell that he had a lot of optimism and hope for the future.
- In terms of the upcoming expectations for the football team, Barnes is very pleased with the strides that Smith and his staff have made in all aspects of the program. Whether it’s in the classroom, in the weight room, in the community, or on the field, the Beavers are thriving and growing under Smith’s leadership and Barnes couldn’t be more thrilled. He lauded the offseason acquisitions and noted that continuity in year two of the Smith regime would begin to show the fruits of the labor. While it’s certainly easy to get excited about the upcoming season early in the year, Barnes noted that Smith isn’t taking any shortcuts in building the program and that while it may take time, it’ll be worth it.
- One of the biggest takeaways is that the Beavers are close to revealing their facilities master plan that we’ve been hearing about for the past couple of years. While it’s taken time to carefully plan out such a grand master project, it’s something that the Beavers needed to address to ensure the continuity of their facilities for the future. What Barnes was able to tell me is that the master facilities plan is indeed close and that we’ll all be in the loop soon.
- Speaking of the plan, the biggest item on that agenda is the renovation of the west side of Reser Stadium. Barnes noted that it’ll be the most expensive expansion project in the history of the university and that due to that nature and scale, it’s something that has required extensive time and planning.
- Given Barnes has openly spoken about wanting the stadium to be making a profit more than just six or seven Saturday’s a year, I followed up with him about his desire to have some sort of a university/retail business or training facility (a la the Sam Rehab Center) embedded in the west side that’s open year round. While it’s still in the preliminary stages, Barnes noted that this idea is something they’re taking a strong look at.
- A quick note on Gill Coliseum… Barnes noted that he was pleased with the additions made to Gill in recent times (new scoreboard, restaurants, etc.) and that the new plaza entrance this season will bring a new and fresh look to Gill while making the entrance more aesthetically pleasing and safe. He noted that more big picture renovations to Gill will be unveiled in the master plan...
- The new sports performance center is slated to be completed in the coming months and the Beavers are really excited about what it's going to be once its done. The renovation includes all new equipment, a Gatorade Fuel Bar, rebranding, and physical improvements that will enhance OSU's Sports Performance staff's ability to train the 500 plus student-athletes in Corvallis. One of the biggest benefactors will be the football team with the enhanced weight stations and other training areas. For all Oregon State’s programs, this is a huge addition.
- One thing that caught my eye when Barnes hired Mitch Canham to lead the baseball program is that the Beavers now boast three (Canham, Jonathan Smith, and Scott Rueck) head coaches that are all Oregon State graduates. With Barnes being responsible for the hiring of Smith and Canham, I asked him if it was something that he was interested in and looking for when searching for coaches that would want to invest in Corvallis or if it was simply just a case of coincidence, and as it turns out, it was the later. While Barnes finds having three alumnus head coaches an extremely valuable marketing and recruiting tool, it wasn’t one of the top priorities when searching for a head coach. Barnes is all about having high charactered individuals in charge of the programs at Oregon State and that’s what he said has been the most important trait above all else in the hiring process.
- I also asked Barnes about whether or not current Oregon State President Ed Ray’s plan to retire from his position following the 19-20 school year had any impact on the future plans of the athletic department. The short answer is no.
- Barnes also spoke about his optimism and excitement for the upcoming men’s basketball season. While he was certainly disappointed with how the 2018-19 season ended for Wayne Tinkle’s group, he expressed his pleasure in how the season went as a whole went for the team in terms of having a fourth place finish in the Pac-12 and a winning conference record. He also highlighted that the team placed the highest it had in a long time in certain analytical categories that showcased the team was on the rise. He called it huge that Tres Tinkle and Ethan Thompson chose to return to Corvallis and that he is excited to see what the 7-foot, shot blocking dynamo Kylor Kelley will do in his senior season. I’ve known Barnes for a couple years, and we’ve talked about expectations for the men’s team in years’ past and this is easily the most excited he’s been about an upcoming season.
- Wrapping up our conversation, I asked Barnes about pitching coach Nate Yeskie’s decision to leave Oregon State for Arizona. While Barnes noted that both he and Canham wanted Yeskie to stay, it was clear that Yeskie had the mindset that he needed to go elsewhere to pursue being a head coach. OSU understood and supported Yeskie 100 percent, but absolutely wanted him to stick around. Barnes noted that they made him one of the highest paid assistants in the country for a reason and that the Beavers loved having him and his family in Corvallis. However, when it came down to the fact that Yeskie wasn’t going to be in a position to be the head guy in Corvallis, a change was inevitable. Moving forward, Barnes noted that there’s not a firm timetable on having that third assistant coach hired but that we’d know soon.
