Butch Thompson: 'Championship or bust' for Auburn baseball at College World Series. Here's why
AUBURN — Butch Thompson can hear it in his players' voices, he says.
Auburn baseball's focus is winning a national championship at the 2022 College World Series – not merely marveling at having made it this far.
The eighth-year coach has even taken to proclaiming it publicly.
"It's national championship or bust," Thompson said after a regional win. The context, of course, is important: Thompson led Auburn to the College World Series in 2019, and the Tigers bowed out quickly. Returning for the second time during his tenure is a testament to the program he has built, but he doesn't see it as progress unless the result in Omaha, Nebraska, is different this time.
"If you just play the Omaha game, 'Get to Omaha,' it can be like (2019) or other times I've been, when it's two and a barbecue," Thompson said. "At some point in time, you have to move your program to start really envisioning the whole thing I've been saying this whole time. It's my (motivational speaker) Les Brown quote. 'People don't fail because they aim high and miss. It's because they aim low and hit.' I need to make sure I don't underscore the potential of this team."
Auburn (41-20) boarded the team bus and left for Omaha on Wednesday. The Tigers will face SEC West foe Ole Miss (37-22) on Saturday (6 p.m. CT, ESPN2) in the first game of a double-elimination format. The second matchup will either be Arkansas or No. 2 overall seed Stanford — the top seed remaining in the tournament.
Auburn is 14th nationally, riding into this College World Series with a chip on its shoulder after being picked last in the division before the season.
Thompson still stands firm about his expectations. He can sense his players buying in, too.
"Thinking about a championship, that was my goal I guess a couple of weeks ago: A bold enough statement, but when you believe something and trust in a group and you feel like it's time, it's OK to call that out," Thompson said.
Auburn crushed its three regional opponents by a combined 33 runs, then escaped Corvallis, Oregon, with a thrilling three-game super regional win against Oregon State.
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Has Thompson taken time to reflect at all on the team's accomplishments? The answer probably isn't a surprise.
"Not yet. I think it's weakness to do that. I think it's an absolute weakness," he said. "There will be months. We just had to cancel a camp. We keep this thing going. ... When the season's over, we'll have plenty of time to reflect. The next day will be either a camp or recruiting. We're recruiting as much as we're playing games right now, to be honest with you.
"I do think it's a weakness for us to start thinking about 'well done.' Start patting yourself on the back. I think you tell yourself that as an athlete. The one thing maybe, to answer the question, is: If you believe confidence comes from skill acquisition, and you acquire skill and you have success, like we did against an opponent like (Oregon State), there should be a level of confidence. You just don't want it to cross the line of, like, 'Man, we've already climbed the mountain,' and you haven't. I want them to take confidence form Corvallis. I don't want them to feel like they've claimed anything."
This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: Auburn baseball treats College World Series as 'championship or bust'
