if Cohen had remained our baseball coach and we had gotten a real AD back at that time. Our baseball program has really had no stability since Cohen left as baseball HC (even with our successes) and our athletic department also would likely have done better under the leadership of someone who was much more experienced in athletic administration. I feel like Cohen basically learned the job of AD at MSU and then after getting some experience just moved on anyway. Can't turn back time but wish he had just remained our baseball HC and we had gone a different direction for AD. Now I guess if Cohen was determined to get into administration he may not have remained a baseball coach anyway but nobody but MSU would have given him the head AD job he got back when Stricklin left.
Does anyone else feel like me that MSU would have been much better off...
- Thread starter maroonmania
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He wasn’t qualified to be AD at a community college much less a SEC school.
We’d have been better off if Auburn had hired him instead of Butch Thompson & we’d promoted Butch to take his place.
That is like taking points off the board for a future chance. No way, I’ll take the Natty in hand.
Yea, exactly. Cohen getting hired as AD really messed over both our baseball program and athletic dept. Cohen was very spotty in hiring HCs and cost us Vic Schaefer. Basically the first hire he had in each of the 4 significant team sports did not go well (Cannizaro, Moorhead and McCray-Penson). Lemonis getting the NC was great but I don't think our baseball program would have ever gotten back to the level its been for the past season and a half if Cohen was still running it.
How exactly can we be better off that what we got? When Lemonis was hired, if you knew he was going to go to Omaha in 2019, have a good team in 2020 that was cut short, then win the title in 2021, then tank in 2022 and 2023, you'd have taken it all day long, as would I. I would not trade a thing.
We may or may not end up moving on from Lemonis but every move we made with the baseball program up until now has been the right one. It's not debatable. This team had to get a championship or we'd have always just been left wanting, wallowing in our insecurities.
Ya'll are idiots who can't see past the direct day before or ahead of you. Even with everything we have going on, we have an incredible freshman class who will eventually win here, no matter the coach.
We may or may not end up moving on from Lemonis but every move we made with the baseball program up until now has been the right one. It's not debatable. This team had to get a championship or we'd have always just been left wanting, wallowing in our insecurities.
Ya'll are idiots who can't see past the direct day before or ahead of you. Even with everything we have going on, we have an incredible freshman class who will eventually win here, no matter the coach.
No doubt the NC covers a multitude of sins but who says Cohen would not have won the Natty with that group? We will never know. Heck, Cohen took the 2013 team to the NC series already. But every sport on campus other than Lemonis' first 2 seasons in baseball seems to have had lots of issues from the time Cohen took over. On the positive, the Leach hire helped get things going in football again and Jans seems like he will work out and Purcell as well. We will see on Lemonis. Guess Cohen just needed a mulligan in every sport.
Considering he was willing to quit being a HC for AD shows me he was ready to move on so it's good he quit coaching but he shouldn't have been hired for AD.
We won a national championship less than 2 years ago. Some of y’all have lost your minds. This is the most hormonal group of baseball fans in the country. We are going to make a good hire this off-season and be okay.
You don't trade the National Title in baseball for anything.
Cohen was a major part of getting us that title.... not as big as Rowdy and Tanner, but doubtful either of them are here without Cohen.
As far as Cohen's tenure as an AD, he made some poor decisions in regards to seating in my view - particularly at the Hump.
But as far as coaching hires go, not sure another AD woulda/coulda done much better.
Other than the crappy baseball performances against SEC competition since winning it all, I like where things seem to be heading now... we may be getting a new baseball coach soon.
hoping Zac S. will get us a good one and be the leader/visionary the Athletic program needs.
Cohen was a major part of getting us that title.... not as big as Rowdy and Tanner, but doubtful either of them are here without Cohen.
As far as Cohen's tenure as an AD, he made some poor decisions in regards to seating in my view - particularly at the Hump.
But as far as coaching hires go, not sure another AD woulda/coulda done much better.
Other than the crappy baseball performances against SEC competition since winning it all, I like where things seem to be heading now... we may be getting a new baseball coach soon.
hoping Zac S. will get us a good one and be the leader/visionary the Athletic program needs.
We're hormonal but we will be shitcanning the coach for tanking the program and making another hire. Which is it, Aunt Flo?
I thought it was dumb as hell at the time. But supposedly he was the money boy's choice.
No.
Cohen felt like he was stale in his position as head coach and it's much better to have someone in a spot who feels like he's vested, appreciated, and welcome.
He felt like he wasn't & Keenum thought he'd be a decent fit as AD since he has some institutional knowledge and had a desire to be in that position.
If Cohen wasn't named AD, he'd have left within a couple seasons for someplace else.
He'd have gotten the gig at Shelton State considering his Tuscaloosa connections.
I think 2013 took a lot out of Cohen. I have wondered how well the IB personality would have worked over time, recruiting-wise. That said, a Cohen team would have never looked like this.
I don't know why our dumbass fanbase really thinks things are so bad, and that Cohen did a bad job. Cohen was probably what we needed at the time in 2017, and now it's just time for him to move on. He fits more with what Auburn needs right now. I mean we have solid coaches everywhere here and fiscally, we're in great shape. And now we have the AD we need for the present.
Not sure I 100% agree with this, but him going to Auburn certainly shows he was capable of it.
Getting back to the first point, I mean, things are about as good as they've ever been for MSU sports, if you can get past the very recent (and hopefully short-term) issues with the baseball program. And you can pretty much sum those up with bad luck and some bad COVID evaluations in recruiting. The sky ain't falling.
I think he'd have taken the Alabama baseball job after the '17 season if he wasn't State's AD.
Cohen would have been a really good fit there with his family connections and him being the Prodigal Son returning to his Grandmama...
Alabama introduces baseball coach Brad Bohannon
News conference at Alabama for new baseball coach.
www.al.com
Edit to add: Guess who was the brand-new AD at Alabama who made that hire?
Alabama hires highly regarded Arizona AD Greg Byrne as Bill Battle steps down
Byrne was one of the most sought-after athletic directors in the nation
www.cbssports.com
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SHINY ($1)I think he'd have taken the Alabama baseball job after the '17 season if he wasn't State's AD.
Cohen would have been a really good fit there with his family connections and him being the Prodigal Son returning to his Grandmama...
Alabama introduces baseball coach Brad Bohannon
News conference at Alabama for new baseball coach.
Edit to add: Guess who was the brand-new AD at Alabama who made that hire?
Alabama hires highly regarded Arizona AD Greg Byrne as Bill Battle steps down
Byrne was one of the most sought-after athletic directors in the nation
If you think that's shiny...
Cohen would have had a statue next to the Bear after the Tide beat State in the '21 CWS finals...
Cohen’s tenure as coach was a roller coaster…. I don’t think we’d have seen any more stability had he stayed. Stability isn’t in that guys DNA.
I don’t know any of the back story, but Keenum lost 2 alumna ADs to rival schools. I’m glad they’re both gone, but that’s very strange thing to have happen.
AND MOOVED IT INSIDE THE PLAID PALACEIf you think that's shiny...
Cohen would have had a statue next to the Bear after the Tide beat State in the '21 CWS finals...
Don’t forget cohen’s stupid substitution in 2016 Super Regional bs Arizona. That team could have easily won it all if he hadn’t have done that.
Well just agree to disagree on that. Basically every one of Cohen's first hires for the major sports was a bust plus he let Howland hang around too long even though he was hired before Cohen got the job. And Cohen did not do much of a job on the PR and fundraising side of things. Cohen was WAY late to the party on NIL and working the boosters for money just wasn't his thing. So I feel like Cohen basically learned to be an AD on our dime and now has moved on down the road after getting some experience. I will say that his second round hires here were much better. Jans and Purcell have looked good out of the gate and Leach was a pretty good pull for us even though he was definitely on the downhill side of his career. I had thought Lemonis was a great hire but definitely hold the phone on that one.
Did I not explain every bit of that? The whole part about him needing to move on?
And I don't care how many misses he had. The AD overall was better after he left, than when he found it.
"probably what we needed at the time in 2017" -- that's the part I'm not agreeing with. We would have been better off with someone who knew what they were doing as AD from the start IMO.
Maybe so. But I see it like this. We were poor lil moo at AD for so long, then Byrne came in and kicked *** at everything. Then Stricklin came in who was more of a fund raiser, but lacked balls so many were taking advantage of him. Then Cohen reversed course, stopped spending, made some tough decisions, and some good hires. That got stale too, and now we need the fund-raising arm back.
The problem is, there aren't many Byrnes out there, so you have to pick your poison and rotate them.
We won a national title. Maybe we still would have won that with Cohen but I don’t care how odd the path has been, I wouldn’t change anything. 2016 - 2021 was about the best stretch of baseball in MSU history.
I dunno, those 2010 & 2015 seasons were pretty rough.
I'll take that bet. Freshman class i dont see the promise in. It looks good on paper to be ranked whatever by the writers but it has to produce.
We are currently the worst team in the SEC, yet we cant get a freshman to break into the lineup consistently. The closest thing we have is highfill and he's only started 12 games. He and Jordan are the only two that have even gotten regular looks.
On the pitching side of things we are using 3 freshman a good bit. I like to see Loftin and Tapper both get more looks in SEC play.
But to really only have 5-6 freshman contributing on what is so far a bad sec baseball team. I dont think this freshman class is as good as the last 4. Of course we have to wait 4 years to see how it all pans out as well.
Yep he outsmarted himself….. or outstupided himself would be the correct analogy.
17 that guy. I was tired of recruiting power bunters.
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