Jackdragbean said:
I too would like to hear more about your list of coaches and their pros and cons if you have enough time in the future.
</p>Ok since you and Lawdawg asked, here are a few of my thoughts on the guys I listed.
John Cohen, University of Kentucky
Pros: All ready proven as a head coach at the Division I level. He has won over 300 games already as a head coach in this his 9th season overall. He has won an SEC Championship. He is one of the best hitting coaches in college baseball, His teams play in a cracker box of a park, but yet he does not sit back and wait on the three run homer, His teams continue to set school records for sacrifice bunts. His offensive philosophy is aggressive. He is the typical successful young baseball coach....energetic, hard working, and committed to success. He is a great clinic speaker and is one of those guys that is "believeable" when he speaks. But most of all with John, he would realize and understand what Mississippi State Baseball is expected to be and what it should be. Also, and I think very importantly with John, he is a guy who could be the head coach at Mississippi State for the next 25 years. He will be 42 this coming September. He is also a firery type guy kind of like Kinnison.
Cons: His loyalty to Coach Polk and to Coach Raffo may keep him from aggressively seeking this job. I know that he and Tommy are close.
Rich Hill, University of San Diego
Pros: Like Cohen he is a guy who could be here for a long time. He is only 44 years old and he has been a head coach for 20 years. He has over 600 career wins as a head coach. His track record of moving up the ladder over the last 20 years gives me hope that he may be willing to listen to an offer from the SEC. He started at Cal Luthern, his alma mater, as the head coach at the age of 24. He went from there to the University of San Francisco and then on to the University of San Diego. At San Diego he has developed a program that for the last two years has been consistantly ranked in the top 20 in the nation. Last season they were a top 8 national seed, even though they lost two straight (Cal State Fullerton was in their regional). A couple of years ago they swept No. 1 Texas in a three game series to open the season. Their facilities do not even have lights and from what I have been told the stadium is a dump....wouldnt even be a good high school field in Mississippi. They had to host their regional last year at cross town rival San Diego State.
Cons: He is a California guy and would have to learn the southeast for recruiting. However, he has been recruiting kids to the University of San Diego, which is a very expensive private school. Surely he could recruit kids to a state school in Mississippi. I also was told that he is an avid surfer.....Not sure the waves in the Tenn-Tom are big enough to surf.
Steve Smith, Baylor
Pros: 14 years of head coaching experience at the Division I level. A proven recruiter. He signed our last great class of signees and then left for the Baylor Job. He signed Piatt, Dubose, Freeman, Lee, Dabbs, Jackson, Hauswald, Patton, etc., the signing class of 1994 that led us to 2 CWS in 1997 and 1998. That signing class was ranked #1 in the nation. We have not had a class anywhere close to that one. He has done well at Baylor winning over 500 games there. He has proven to be a quality on the field coach as evidenced by leading his team to the college world series a couple of years ago. He is a very accomplished pitching coach. Like Cohen, he should have an idea of what Mississippi State baseball should be.
Cons: As much as I like Coach Smith, he is not a fiery energetic type of person. He is a hard worker, but more of a quite leader. Definately not the Kinnison type of leader which I happen to think we may need. I do not think his age is a factor, I think he is in his later 40's approaching 50. Could be at MSU for 15 to 20 years.
Dan McDonnell, Louisville
Pros: Accomplished recruiter and an excellent judge of talent. He refered to J Rea last year as the "one that got away" from him while he was at Ole Miss. He will recruit and is energetic as a coach. He is well known around the country as a great recruiter and is well respected by other coaches. I think the Rebel fan would squrim a little if we hired him. Again he is a young guy who could be here for a long time.
Cons: I have a hang up about his ties at Ole Miss, but I think I could get over this. Bianco has ties at LSU and he has no trouble beating them or going head to head with them when recruiting a player.
Mike Kinnison, Delta State
Pros: (already discussed) Demanding, hard working, energetic, and has a national championship
Cons: Division II with no experience at DI level. Also 52-53 years old (not sure his age, just basing it on when he was in college) Not sure how many years he would have left in the tank.
Now having said that about all of those guys, I will again list Erik Bakich at Vanderbilt and Chad Holbrook at North Carolina. I am sure there are several others that would fall in the same category as they do. I do not know much about these guys except for the fact that they are the top assistants and handle the bulk of recruiting. I know they dont have head coaching experience, but I will give you two prime examples of how hiring an assistant coach from a top program could be the way to go. Skip Bertman was an assistant at Miami before taking the LSU job and Tim Corbin was an assistant at Clemson before taking the Vanderbilt job.
The difference in those situations and ours is that those were programs without a lot of history, where ours is a program with a storied history that wants to get back to the top of the college baseball world.
I would love to hear everyone else's thoughts on what we should be looking for in our next baseball coach.
I want to see someone with energy who will renew the excitment of bulldog baseball at Dudy Noble. Someone who will challenge to the players and hold them accountable for their actions and efforts, someone who is willing to do whatever it takes to get the absolute best out of our players every single day. Someone who will simply out work their competition in every thing from recruiting to game management. Someone who will bring the pride back to the M over S logo. It was evident at the Super Regional last year that our fans are hungry to get our sport back. It can be done, but our new AD is going to have to make sure he hires the right person to get it done.