Any participant in any sport knows success never happens overnight.

Shocker baseball has had its waves of successes and failures. At one point in the program’s history, it was looked at as one of the most prestigious programs in all of the nation’s collegiate baseball programs.

Inheriting an entire baseball program is a challenge within itself, but taking on a heavy load of juniors and seniors from former head coach Gene Stephenson is another task that may be more difficult to tackle.

Butler joined the baseball program in June after nearly the entire staff was fired. This season, the baseball team has won 21 out of 40 games.

According to this year’s roster, head coach Todd Butler is working with 20 juniors and seniors who have been coached under Stephenson for the last two and three years of their respective collegiate careers.

One aspect of coaching that few fans or outside spectators think about is that when taking on an established program, a new head coach must go through a transitioning phase. Part of that phase is taking the old techniques and habits that were put forward by the former coach and applying new ideas to get the program where he or she wants it to be.

Getting to the final destination point is a difficult one and sometimes can take a couple of years to get its full effect.

With Coach Butler taking on Stephenson’s legacy, it will take time for his plan to come full circle and see the success that has the potential to be there.

This transitioning phase not only occurs for coaches but players as well. It takes time for players, especially those who have played under a different coaching system, to adjust to the changes being made within a program.

The record may show Shocker baseball is not exactly where we would like to be but again, success does not come overnight. Give Coach Butler more time to evolve and rebuild the Shocker baseball program into his vision and I have a feeling fans will not be disappointed.

I’m not saying that where we are today is not something to be proud of, but you must learn to walk before you can run. Taking it one practice and game at a time is the plan and I believe Coach Butler has a vision that will bring Shocker baseball back to the top once again.