Jerry Stitt is a man with reasonable expectations and goals for the UA baseball team's future.

Stitt was named head coach July 3, replacing retiring head coach Jerry Kindall. Stitt said the decision took a long time and was a big relief.

"I didn't expect it, and I wouldn't say it was a big surprise," Stitt said. "It was more of a relief than anything."

Stitt, an assistant coach with the UA for 18 years, is looking forward to the future.

"Well, in looking at the whole program, we have a lot of ideas," Stitt said. "These ideas can only be valuable if they turn into plans and if the plans can be implemented."

The team will improve with maturity, Stitt said. He said the overall program can improve, especially if they can get the fans out to watch.

And with J.F. "Pop" McKale, Frank Sancet and Jerry Kindall's footsteps ahead of him, Stitt said he knows it is impossible to follow those UA legends.

"They're all legends," Stitt said. "I don't intend or expect to be a legend - I just want to be a guy who gets the job done."

Now that he has been named head coach, Stitt said the search for two assistant coaches has begun. The first priority is pitching coach, which was filled when Stitt hired Bill Kinneberg.

"This is the man I wanted," Stitt said. "This is good for Wildcat baseball, this is what I wanted. I'm thrilled."

Stitt said Kinneberg will add a greater ability to recruit and will stabalize the pitching staff.

The second coach needed is an infield coach, which Stitt said the closing date for applicants is Aug. 2.

Since Kindall announced his retirement, effective Aug. 1, Stitt has been acting as head coach and has been busy doing what he's always done.

"I've been recruiting, checking equipment and making sure that our present players are doing all right academically," Stitt said. "That's what I always do anyway. The other thing that I want to work on is public relations and getting out into the communit y."

What's the one thing that Stitt wants his players to remember and take with them?

"We've always stressed, and I will continue to stress, that when you leave here, you will be grown up, and you will be, if not a man by the time you leave, be close to being a man," Stitt said. "I want them to be responsible members of society and good c itizens."

Baseballwise, Stitt said the team learns is aggressiveness. He said he has realistic goals and expectations for his 1996-97 team.

"We are going to work harder than we ever have," Stitt said. "We've got a long fall coming up, a lot of time for reevaluation."

Is another national title in the near future for Stitt?

Since the UA won the national title in 1986, Stitt said they always look forward to winning another.

"We've had teams that were good enough and for some reason or another we didn't win it," Stitt said. "It's more of a vision than anything. It's not a goal, because you want something that's realistic, and right now, that's not realistic."

"I believe that we are going to be back in the top 20 very soon," Stitt said.

In order to accomplish that goal, Stitt is aware of several areas that need to be improved.

"Obviously, our pitching needs work," Stitt said. "We always hit around here. We seem to be able to put runs up. Our defense has improved a lot over the past couple of years. It's just the pitching."