This wasn’t the first time Link Jarrett had to walk into a disappointed locker room. It wasn’t the first time the Florida State head baseball coach had to deliver a final postgame speech to a devastated group of players.

That doesn’t mean it ever gets any easier. And truth be told, this was one of the toughest of his career.

If that wasn’t obvious by the fact it took him a full hour to make his way to his postgame press conference after Monday’s 5-4 loss to St. John’s in the Tallahassee Regional championship round, it certainly was by the way he had to pause and collect himself several times when talking about his 2026 Seminoles.

The first pause came when he reflected on the incredible vibes he saw and heard in the Florida State locker room all season. No matter what was happening on the field, he said, there was an ever-present joy and positivity among his players.

“I can’t explain it, what that feels like in there on most days,” Jarrett said. “The polar opposite of what it is now.”

The second pause came when he started talking about injured first baseman Myles Bailey, who was on his way to an All-America season when he went down with a gruesome ankle injury midway through the year.

While the injury dealt a crippling blow to the Florida State offense — Bailey finished the season with a team-high 13 home runs despite playing less than half the season — Jarrett seemed to really get emotional about how it affected Bailey individually.

“Hurt for Myles still,” Jarrett said. “That was the most dynamic bat I’ve ever seen. … Played against [former MLB star] David Ortiz a lot coming along, and you’re talking about just power and capabilities. It’s in a very exclusive group of players, hitters. You still hurt for him.”

Jarrett, who is finishing his fourth season as head coach at his alma mater, got emotional again when asked what he said to his team after Monday’s final out.

“I hadn’t been in a dugout that was that eerie and that silent after a loss like that,” he said. “In the locker room was worse. Worse.”

Jarrett has seen seasons end on bigger stages. He’s had multiple teams lose in NCAA Super Regionals and in the College World Series.

He has fielded better teams. Teams with greater chances of winning a national championship.

But the respect he developed for this particular Florida State squad — this flawed team that overcame a slew of injuries and a very inconsistent offense to still win 40 games — was maybe unmatched.

“The fight of the group is something that I felt with this team more than any other team,” Jarrett said. “Why that was, it’s an accumulation of the tenacity of the guys in the locker room. Man, that’s where the fight comes from. They all pull for each other, and they want to win.

“That’s not hocus pocus stuff. You could see it. I think the fans felt that here. I think that’s why they enjoyed it so much.”

Jarrett actually started his press conference Monday by thanking those fans for how supportive they were all season, and especially in the regional. He also thanked the Florida State administration, the team managers, bat girls and everyone else associated with the program.

But his most heartfelt comments were reserved for the team that had just played its last game together. A team that seemed to be fighting an uphill battle all season due to injuries and roster shortcomings, but one that competed relentlessly from start to finish.

“These guys absolutely fought … and never stopped,” he said. “I don’t know that we ever saw our personnel intact to provide the opportunity to see everybody full-speed-ahead healthwise. That was a part of our story this year. We all understand that it is, it’s tricky to overcome that. I think we did it. I think we did it. …

“I will never forget the fight of this group.”

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