Michael Earley details No. 1 A&M's preparation ahead of Opening Day

As the nation's consensus No. 1 team, Texas A&M baseball is just four short days away from Opening Day against Elon on Friday night. First-year skipper Michael Earley joined TexAgs Live to preview the season and look back on Saturday's First Pitch Game at Blue Bell Park.

Key notes from Michael Earley interview

• You have so much that you want to do with the team, and you try to give them ways to retain it. It's a bunch of little stuff. It has been good, and I like where we're at from the standpoint of team baseball. We've had some injuries. We went through the flu a couple of weeks ago, but it's all shaping up this week.
   
• I've learned a lot about myself in the past few months. I'm past the honeymoon stage or the "I can't believe I get to be the coach here" type of feeling that I think I had the first couple of weeks. I've really settled in, and that's all because of everyone around me — the coaching staff, the players, the administration and just all of the support I've got. It has helped me out a ton. It's been a really cool experience, but I'm kind of past that at this point. My eyes are normal now, and I'm just ready to go play some baseball.
   
• Part of managing the mindset of a team that has these high expectations is having those experienced guys back. What are you supposed to do when you have expectations? Tell people to stop? It is what it is, and there are always expectations. It's something we address early on, but it's really just about how we go about our day-to-day activities, and they've done a really good job of that and embracing the fact that we're going to have a target on our back. We were going to have a target on our back whether we were ranked No. 1 or No. 17. It doesn't matter. Just embrace that. When anyone comes to Blue Bell Park, they want to give you their best shot. The ranking, to me, doesn't really change anything from that perspective.
   
• This past weekend with all the former players in town and getting some baseball in was amazing. We did our Twelve For 12 banquet and then we did a First Pitch Game. It was important to us that the former players were involved. Knowing that they're welcome here and the doors are always opened, man, did they come out. I think over 250 former players and 700 total people when you count their families were here. Then you open the gates to the fans and have 5,500 people at practice. It kind of got that feeling going again, and the guys remember how it was in the fall. What an amazing weekend! Coach Jason Hutchins absolutely killed it. He and Madeline Osborn put that together, and I just kind of nod my head and shake hands.
   
• The one time I've talked with coach Rob Childress was in July of 2021. Probably about a month after he got let go, I was in Georgia recruiting, and he was there watching his son, Max. He made it a point to come speak to me. I just thought that was really cool. He told me about A&M. Told me about College Station. For him to be that kind of man to be able to do that has always kind of stuck with me. I tell people all the time that I hope when I leave here that my players think of me and talk about me like they do Childress because I haven't met a guy that doesn't love that guy. Hutchins had the idea of putting his number on the wall, and I thought it was a great idea. The character of that guy that everyone speaks about is amazing, and I thought it was really deserving.
   
• It was great to have those former players there and be able to meet them and hear their perspectives. I never played here, but I was a player. I know some of the guys around my age. Hearing them talk about how important Texas A&M is to them and seeing them getting together with their old buddies and having a good time was great. The weather helped a ton, and it couldn't have gone any better.
   
• I know there's excitement around this team this year, but I hope we can keep this First Pitch Game thing going every year. I want to make sure people can get back and bring their kids. Some of the younger guys like Austin Bost will be here in the next few years, and guys that were out there will start having families, and they can bring their kids out. I met so many people. It was great all around. Everyone was just so great and welcoming.
   
• I've been looking at Elon over the past couple of weeks because my theory has always been there's only one game out of the year where you can actually enjoy the week leading up because it starts to get crammed. I try to get the scouting reports for the first week done early because nothing is going to change since there are no games.
   
• Elon is good. They've got some good arms. They've got some talent on their team. We're going to get challenged right away, which is what you expect in today's college baseball. It's going to be exciting. I think they have a pretty tough veteran team.
   
• Will Fox and Caleb Longley have done a really good job on the defensive end getting our guys ready. We've got some guys playing positions they haven't played a season at. Wyatt Henseler is going to be at second to start, and Kaeden Kent is going to be at short. Gavin Kash has been in left. They've done a really good job of getting those guys acclimated and getting them the reps they need. Giving them the confidence. The confidence piece is a big part of what it takes when it comes to playing a different position. They're in a really good spot. They work super hard every day, and I think it's a credit to the players, too. You don't ever have to ask them to work. With Kent, I have to ask him to stop. It's one of those situations where both parties agree a lot of work needs to be done, and they're doing it.
   
• I love the depth of our pitching staff. I think much gets made of our offense, and I think it's deserving, but I like our pitching staff a lot. There are a lot of right-handed pitchers there that are really good when you talk about the guys like Ty Baker, Isaac Morton, Clayton Freshcorn, Peyton Smith and Luke Jackson. Those guys have been pitching really well. It's going to be a battle. Not only are they going to be competing against the team they're playing against, but they're going to be competing with each other for those innings. Kaiden Wilson and Jackson Brasseux from the left side and Caden McCoy, a freshman from Bloomington, Ind., have done really well for us. I've been really pleased with how the guys have progressed and developed.
   
• This is probably the biggest week of the year for trying to manage them doing way too much. This week is just different. There's no Tuesday game, and you know what's ahead. We're off today just like we'll be every Monday, and then we'll practice tomorrow. It's going to be a higher volume practice on Tuesday. Wednesday, it'll be a little light going over stuff. Thursday, will be light just like most Thursdays are during the season. Then, try to sleep on Thursday night and play on Friday. We don't want to cram too much. If we're cramming this week, that means we haven't done our jobs. It's really just preparing for Elon because this is the only time you get a full week to prepare for one team.
   
• Ryan Prager is great. He does everything right, pure professional. Justin Lamkin, Myles Patton and multiple other guys are the same way. When your best players do things the right way, not only do guys see it, but it helps you out a ton as a coach. He's the ultimate professional in how he does his stuff. It's great having a guy like that, especially when you have some young guys like McCoy and Jackson who can look at him as the blueprint for how it's done. Prager is amazing in everything he does in life, but his ability, preparation and how he takes care of his body are top-notch.
   
• I've said I've written a thousand lineups, and on the offensive side, we still haven't gotten anything settled. We've got a couple of guys with some injuries. Caden Sorrell has a little bit of a hamstring, and I'm not sure what his availability will be this week. He has to be really ready to play to play. It will be a long season, so if he isn't in there, Terrence Kiel II will most likely be in right. That right there is one of the bigger question marks.
   
• From a pitching standpoint, I'd say it's pretty settled right now. We'll go Prager, Lamkin and Patton. Three left-handers on the weekend on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. That's what the pitching is going to be.
   
• There have been questions about first base and catcher, and we're going to let the week play out, but I have a pretty good idea of where we will go for at least game one.