New Rangers hitting instructor Clint Hurdle has a unique take on what he'll tell his new charges: nothing.

Hurdle, who was hired Nov. 5 as the replacement for Rudy Jaramillo, plans to go to the players and ask them to unload upon him what they know and what they think they know.

"I want them to come clean with what they've learned," said Hurdle, who signed a one-year contract with a club option for 2011. "I want them to tell me where they are. What did they know when they came into the organization, and what do they know now. And from there we build a relationship.

"It's not my way or the highway. I try to adapt to a player's strength. My challenge is to honestly communicate with these guys and to make them understand we're not trying to invent something that hasn't been done before. What I teach is going to be very solid and has a lot of the roots of the game in it. Through honesty and consistency, I think they'll get to know and trust who I am. I've got to capture their hearts first. They never care how much you know until they know how much you care."

Hurdle, 52, beat out three other finalists (Thad Bosley, Gerald Perry and Rusty Greer) for the job. He was the Colorado Rockies' hitting instructor under three different managers before becoming the club's manager in 2002. He was fired as manager in May of the 2009 season.

Hurdle declined an opportunity to move into the Colorado front office in order to take the Texas job. He said he still wants to win a World Series in uniform and still has a desire to teach.

"I've got an itch that still has to be scratched," he said.

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