Skylar Meade’s coached a few good pitchers over his career, especially in the last few years. He had the Big Ten’s leader in ERA on his team and his staffs have set school strikeout records the last three seasons.

Now he has a new challenge: figuring how what he has and adapting his system to fit the Gamecocks’ pitchers.

“I like big, strong pitchers. But I also like small, fast-arm pitchers, too. I think it’s a case-by-case basis,” Meade said. “I never would say there’s a certain type of arm I have to have. As a pitching coach I think my job is to adapt to the system they have or the ability they have and adjust the system accordingly.”

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Regardless of pitching styles, he has a personality that he wants his pitchers to have. He wants pitchers to exude confidence and carry themselves assuredly on the mound.

It’s something he’s preached to his group throughout the first week he’s been on campus.

“I like guys that carry themselves with their chest out and with bravado, I think good things tend to happen with them in terms of pitchers,” Meade said Tuesday. “We already started talking about that as recently as yesterday.”

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Meade’s only spent about a week with his new crop of arms that he’ll be tasked with coaching this season, but he said he likes what he’s seen so far.

There hasn’t been too much in terms of game situations, but he did say the team is working on making these throwing sessions competitive over the offseason.

There’s only so much, he said, that a coach can learn about players outside of scrimmages and games but he’s trying to learn at an accelerated rate with spring practice starting in about six weeks.

“You at least see how their bodies move, how they collect themselves, how they present themselves, which is very important to me,” he said. “To say I’m going to know who’s a real dude and who’s not playing catch that’s not going to happen. But we’re going to try and get real inventive.”

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Meade, who came in after fall scrimmages finished up, has to find a way to learn his staff before the season starts in mid-February.

He gets the next week or two before the team goes home for winter break and then the roughly three weeks of preseason scrimmages to figure out what his team is about.

Doing that will mean he’s in constant contact with his team over the break and then implementing what will be a hands-on, innovative workout regiment to figure out what he has to work with.

“Those three weeks are huge, they’re very vital. I think talking to them about their style and what they’re trying to work on, that’s something we’re going to have to do every single day,” Meade said. “It’s going to be over the top amount of communication, but I think that’s the only way you can get ready for February and be ready for march one SEC rolls around.”