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Nebraska

Rob Childress opens up on relationship with fellow assistant Mike Sirianni

On3-Social-Profile_GRAYby:On3 Staff Report•06/15/23
Rob Childress, Texas A&M Aggies baseball coach
Texas A&M baseball coach Rob Childress stands for the national anthem with his team at the College World Series on June 18, 2017. (Bruce Thorson / USA TODAY Sports)

The Nebraska baseball team is coming off a so-so season under fourth-year coach Will Bolt, going 33-23-1 and failing to reach the NCAA Tournament.

The team has gone through a bit of a coaching shakeup this offseason, with Bolt bringing in a new assistant coach and promoting another. He shifted Rob Childress to be the program’s new pitching coach and hired Mike Sirianni as an assistant working with hitters and infielders.

Childress was already in the program as the team’s director of player development the past two seasons, but he’ll be promoted July 1 when the NCAA allows for a third full-time assistant coach.

The long-time baseball coach with Nebraska roots is already familiar with new assistant Mike Sirianni, too.

“I’ve probably known coach Sirianni since he was 14 years old,” Childress said. “I got an opportunity to coach his older brother here at the University of Nebraska. I’ve just admired his journey from a baseball standpoint.”

Sirianni has 13 years experience coaching college baseball.

He spent the last four seasons as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Wichita State. Prior to that, Sirianni was the head coach at Regis from 2017-19. He had also been a volunteer assistant coach at Wichita State from 2015-16. From 2011-14, Mike Sirianni was an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator at Newman (Kan.).

“He’s been at every level to the point of being a Division I head coach and moving on to Wichita State as a recruiting coordinator,” Childress said. “He is an absolute fanatic on the road recruiting and does a really good job. When you look at the talent he put together at Wichita State it’s a credit to him, because he was the one that was on the road and out recruiting those guys.”

It’ll be interesting to see how teams handle having three full-time assistant coaches, a welcome change that coaches had been pushing the NCAA to adopt for several years.

Childress didn’t seem to think it would be an issue at all, in part because of his familiarity with new assistant Mike Sirianni.

“I’m incredibly thankful that he’s here with us, and I know that he’s going to be a huge impact for Nebraska baseball,” Childress said. “I’m thankful he’s here.”