PACK YOUR BAGS AND GET THE HELL OUT OF TOWN!!
<div class="article-headline"> <h1>Polk irate over new coach hire</h1> <p class="ratingbyline">By Kyle Veazey • [email protected] • June 6, 2008</p> <p class="comments"> </p> <div class="article-bodytext">
STARKVILLE - Departing Mississippi State coach Ron Polk said he'll request that his name be taken off of Polk-Dement Stadium, the home field of the Bulldog baseball team, after learning news that MSU has hired John Cohen as the school's next baseball coach.</p> <div class="articleflex-container"> <div class="articleflex">
the candidacy of his top assistant, Tommy Raffo. Cohen and Raffo were MSU teammates under Polk some two decades ago. Cohen resigned today after five seasons as the coach at Kentucky.
"I just got slapped in the face, punched in the stomach," Polk said. "All my coaches have been slapped in the face, punched in the stomach by a young athletic director who has absolutely no clue what he's doing."
Polk said he plans to send incoming athletic director Greg Byrne, who conducted the search for his successor, a letter that states "within 48 hours, my name comes off the stadium, comes off the centerfield fence, the banner off the concourse comes down. It will remain down until (Byrne) gets fired or somebody runs him off."
Byrne reiterated his stance on the search while waiting to board a plane in Louisville, Ky., that's bound for Starkville's George M. Bryan Airport.
"We were charged at the beginning to find the best baseball coach for Mississippi State," Byrne said via cell phone. "We said at the beginning that we will do a national search, and through that national search, that we will interview multiple candidates. We had a lot of discussion with people in the college and professional baseball world. We have hired who we think is the right and the best coach for Mississippi State."
Byrne wouldn't comment further.
Polk said he wasn't sure of his future plans, but that he does intend to take MSU out of his will as long as Byrne is the athletic director. Polk is in Athens, Ga., where Georgia beat North Carolina State today in an NCAA Super Regional game, and doesn't plan to return to Starkville for tomorrow's news conference that will formally introduce Cohen as the new coach.
"I'm not castigating John Cohen," he said. "He probably felt like if he wasn't going to take it, somebody else would."
Reached earlier this afternoon, Raffo wouldn't comment. </div> </div> </div> </div>
<div class="article-headline"> <h1>Polk irate over new coach hire</h1> <p class="ratingbyline">By Kyle Veazey • [email protected] • June 6, 2008</p> <p class="comments"> </p> <div class="article-bodytext">
STARKVILLE - Departing Mississippi State coach Ron Polk said he'll request that his name be taken off of Polk-Dement Stadium, the home field of the Bulldog baseball team, after learning news that MSU has hired John Cohen as the school's next baseball coach.</p> <div class="articleflex-container"> <div class="articleflex">
"I just got slapped in the face, punched in the stomach," Polk said. "All my coaches have been slapped in the face, punched in the stomach by a young athletic director who has absolutely no clue what he's doing."
Polk said he plans to send incoming athletic director Greg Byrne, who conducted the search for his successor, a letter that states "within 48 hours, my name comes off the stadium, comes off the centerfield fence, the banner off the concourse comes down. It will remain down until (Byrne) gets fired or somebody runs him off."
Byrne reiterated his stance on the search while waiting to board a plane in Louisville, Ky., that's bound for Starkville's George M. Bryan Airport.
"We were charged at the beginning to find the best baseball coach for Mississippi State," Byrne said via cell phone. "We said at the beginning that we will do a national search, and through that national search, that we will interview multiple candidates. We had a lot of discussion with people in the college and professional baseball world. We have hired who we think is the right and the best coach for Mississippi State."
Byrne wouldn't comment further.
Polk said he wasn't sure of his future plans, but that he does intend to take MSU out of his will as long as Byrne is the athletic director. Polk is in Athens, Ga., where Georgia beat North Carolina State today in an NCAA Super Regional game, and doesn't plan to return to Starkville for tomorrow's news conference that will formally introduce Cohen as the new coach.
"I'm not castigating John Cohen," he said. "He probably felt like if he wasn't going to take it, somebody else would."
Reached earlier this afternoon, Raffo wouldn't comment. </div> </div> </div> </div>
