Ohio State hires Campbell's Justin Haire as new head baseball coach

Ohio State has found their new head men’s baseball coach, as the Buckeyes announced Friday morning the hiring of Justin Haire from Campbell University.

“The Ohio State Department of Athletics has announced the hiring of Justin Haire as the next head baseball coach,” the Ohio State release said. “Haire becomes the 13^th head coach in program history and has signed a five-year contract with the Buckeyes.”

“We are so excited to welcome Justin Haire and his family to Ohio State to lead our baseball program into a new era. We had a tremendous amount of interest in this position from successful coaches around the country, so it was exciting to see this search unfold,” Buckeyes athletic director Ross Bjork said in the release. “Coach Haire’s successful career as a head coach and track record of winning games in the NCAA Tournament made us stand up and take notice, and his deep Ohio roots are an added bonus. We believe Ohio State baseball can be a Big Ten contender and make deep runs in the NCAA Tournament under Justin’s leadership, and we are fired up for him to start here in Columbus. Congratulations to Justin, Lindsey, Jackson, Parker, Max and Anne Marie, and welcome to the Buckeye family.”

Haire provided his own statement as part of the release as well.

“I am incredibly honored and excited to be named the head baseball coach at The Ohio State University. As an Ohio native, this opportunity is especially meaningful to me. We look forward to building a championship-level program at Ohio State, where the commitment to excellence in both athletics and academics is unparalleled,” Haire said in the release.

“The passion and pride of Buckeye Nation is unmatched and we are eager to contribute to the success and growth of Ohio State baseball. My family and I would like to thank Mr. Ross Bjork and President Ted Carter for this tremendous opportunity. We look forward to attacking the challenge ahead and know that the best is yet to come!”

The new Ohio State skipper was widely successful over the past decade with the Camels:

“Haire brings a proven history of success to Columbus after serving as the head coach at Campbell for the last 10 seasons. He won 317 games while at the helm of the Camels’ program, averaging over 30 wins per season,” the release said. “He was named the Big South Coach of the Year four times (2018, 2021, 2022, 2023). Haire led the Camels to five consecutive Big South regular season titles from 2018-23 and four Big South Tournament titles (2018, 2019, 2022, 2023). Haire and the Camels reached five NCAA Regionals and won seven NCAA Tournament games.”