Baseball: No place like CU for Servais

Sometimes it takes getting away for a person to appreciate how good things are at home.

That’s how Creighton baseball coach Ed Servais views his experience last month in interviewing for the head coaching job at Wake Forest.

“Sometimes when you look from afar, you think they have some things that we don’t have. And they do,’’ he said. “But we have some things happening that are really exciting when you look toward the future. It left me convinced that we are not that far away if everything works out.”

Ultimately, Wake Forest hired Tom Walter from the University of New Orleans. Servais declined to say if he was offered the job.

Creighton Athletic Director Bruce Rasmussen said the fact that Servais probably wasn’t is only a positive for the Bluejays.

“We are happy that Ed is our baseball coach,’’ Rasmussen said. “I feel he is one of the best teachers of the college game. He’s a man of high character, and our teams have overachieved under his direction.

“We want to grow our baseball program. We want to be a team that has a chance to play in the College World Series. We feel that we have a coach in Ed Servais that can help us reach some of our goals.’’

Servais drew Wake Forest’s interest by winning 227 games in six seasons at Creighton in conditions that other coaches might find challenging.

The Bluejays play some home games at the CU Sports Complex, hardly a Taj Mahal of a baseball facility. They play others at Rosenblatt Stadium, where they never get to practice. The budget is adequate, although it allows for few frills. Like all northern schools, Creighton has to contend with spring weather that isn’t always baseball friendly.

Wake Forest is in Winston Salem, N.C., and plays in the prestigious Atlantic Coast Conference. Football money helps fund the program, and the weather is more conducive to baseball.

When Servais assessed the bottom line, though, he came away convinced that staying at his present position has plenty of upside.

“I like our team that we have coming back,” he said. “I think we have a chance to get better. I think we have a chance to expand our recruiting base with some of the things that we have planned here. I wouldn’t have felt comfortable about walking away.’’

Creighton is negotiating with the City of Omaha and the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority to play in the downtown stadium that will open in 2011. Servais said it would be a big boost playing home games in a state-of-the-art stadium that will be the home of the College World Series.

But a new facility alone won’t be enough to move the program forward, Servais said. He said Creighton officials have indicated that they are willing to provide additional support, particularly in compensation for Servais’ assistant coaches.

“I wanted to see our assistants be taken care of better,’’ Servais said. “I’m a big believer in continuity.

“I want assistants that are aggressive. If they get a chance to get a head coaching job or get more responsibility as an assistant, I would never deny those guys that opportunity, and I would encourage them to take it.

“But I don’t want to see our assistants leaving for what would be a lateral move. The university understood that if we want the program to grow, there has to be some continuity.’’

Rob Smith has been the pitching coach for the past three seasons. Under his direction, CU has finished in the top 14 in team ERA each season.

Creighton’s other full-time assistant in 2009 was Brent Alwine, who was supposed to be a volunteer coach but was promoted last fall because of an unexpected opening.

Servais said Creighton could add another highly regarded coach as an assistant, but nothing is official at this point.

“When you look at the two programs at the top of our league — Wichita State and Missouri State — you see a lot of continuity on their staffs,’’ Servais said. “You have Creighton wanting to go toe-to-toe with those people, but we’ve had a lot of turnover in our assistant positions.

“I want that to stop. I don’t want guys moving based on financial reasons. These are sensitive (economic) times, and I understand that. I don’t think we asked for a ton of stuff, but we did want to get some things that could help with this process.’’

Servais said one reason he did decide to pursue the Wake Forest job is that the school has many of the same objectives that Creighton has.

“We try to have good athletic teams, but there is a little bit more to it than that,’’ Servais said. “Sure, you have to win games to keep your job, but there has to be more to it than that.

“As I’ve gotten into the second half of my coaching career, I’ve realized there has to be more to this than just having our players learn how to turn a double play or hit the ball to right field. I think Creighton gets that part. And I thought Wake Forest does, too. That’s important to me.’’

Contact the writer:

679-2298, steve.pivovar@owh.com

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