Auburn grabs John Cohen from Mississippi State as next Athletics Director

AUBURN — Auburn president Chris Roberts has tabbed John Cohen as the school’s next athletics director. Cohen has been the AD at Mississippi State since 2016, after serving as the school’s baseball coach for eight seasons.

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“John has a wealth of experience in college athletics, particularly in the Southeastern Conference and his resume and references are impeccable,” Roberts said. “His leadership and success as a head coach and an athletic director speak for themselves. John will embrace Auburn and be a tremendous leader for our athletics program as we move forward.”

Sources tell Auburn Live that Auburn representatives and Cohen met during the week of October 23 at an off-site location.

“I’m extremely grateful to President Roberts for the opportunity to be the next director of athletics at Auburn University,” Cohen said. “Auburn is an incredibly special place as is demonstrated by the hall of fame coaches and athletes that have been a part of its storied history. I understand the traditions and values at Auburn and look forward to continuing those traditions. I’m humbled and honored to be joining the Auburn family.”

Rich McGlynn has been elevated to deputy athletics director and will serve as the No. 2 in command within Auburn athletics.

The decision to hire Roberts comes after substantial pushback from influential Auburn power brokers, and some head coaches, after the news of Cohen’s impending hire was made public on Saturday. Sources tell Auburn Live that Roberts fielded phone calls Saturday night and into Sunday, listening and hearing feedback, mostly in opposition of the hire.

In the end, Roberts stuck to his guns and hired his preferred candidate in Cohen.

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The decision by Roberts to hire Cohen comes after two months of searching for the right choice after the departure from former AD Allen Greene. Utah State’s John Hartwell, New Mexico’s Eddie Nunez, Colorado’s Rick George, Interim AD Rich McGlynn were all legitimate candidates confirmed by Auburn Live. Georgia Southern’s Jared Benko, UConn’s David Benedict and Georgia State’s Charlie Cobb were also candidates that garnered some buzz.

Under Cohen’s watch at Mississippi State, 44 teams have advanced to NCAA postseason play, including a school-record 13 during the 2018-19 athletic year. That occurred just a year after the Bulldogs produced a then-school-record 12 postseason squads during the 2017-18 athletic campaign.

Cohen serves on the prestigious 10-member NCAA Division I Baseball Committee as part of a four-year term that began on September 1, 2019. Sixteen individuals have played and coached in the College World Series. Cohen is one of two among that elite group, who have played, coached and later served as director of athletics for a participating school. He is one of three active SEC athletics director to hire an eventual national championship winning head coach in any sport.

Cohen played baseball at Birmingham Southern in 1986. He was Kentucky’s baseball coach from 2004-2008, then Mississippi State’s head baseball coach from 2009-2016.

More on Cohen from Auburn’s official release

Athletically, Cohen oversaw arguably the greatest era in Bulldog athletics history, highlighted by a 2021 College World Series Championship for the school’s first team national title in any sport. A total of five Bulldog programs turned in a program-best season with Cohen at the helm of the department, including softball (2022), baseball (2021), volleyball (2021), soccer (2018) and women’s basketball (2017, 2018). 

 
A nationally respected leader within intercollegiate athletics, Cohen serves on the prestigious 10-member NCAA Division I Baseball Committee as part of a four-year term that began on September 1, 2019. Cohen is one of 16 individuals have played and coached in the College World Series and one of just two among that elite group, who have played, coached and later served as director of athletics for a participating school. He is one of three active SEC athletics director to hire an eventual national championship winning head coach in any sport.

Cohen, who spent more than two decades coaching college baseball, was named MSU’s head baseball coach in July of 2008. Nine years later, Cohen’s official role in administration began when he assumed the role of associate athletic director in addition to head baseball coach.

Success shouldn’t come as a surprise as it was never far removed from him during his 12-year run as a head coach in the SEC. His teams were successful both on the field and in the classroom. At MSU, he led the Bulldogs to a College World Series finals appearance, an SEC regular season championship and a SEC Tournament championship. In the classroom upon his arrival in 2009, 133 players were selected to the SEC Academic Honor Roll, including three straight SEC Scholar Athlete of the Year winners from 2013-15.

As a baseball player at MSU, Cohen was a key player on the Bulldogs’ 1989 SEC championship team and 1990 College World Series team. He graduated from MSU with a degree in English in 1990 and received a master’s degree in sports management from the University of Missouri in 1994.

Following a six-year stint with Missouri as a graduate assistant and assistant coach, Cohen was the head coach at Northwestern State University from 1998-2001. Cohen spent two seasons as an assistant baseball coach at the University of Florida before becoming the head coach at the University of Kentucky in 2004, a position he held for five seasons before returning to his alma mater. Cohen guided the Wildcats to the program’s first SEC championship in 2006 with a remarkable worst-to-first finish in his third season.

While winning 284 games as a head coach at MSU, Cohen demonstrated a keen ability to develop players and coaches. During his tenure, 138 MSU baseball players were selected in the Major League Baseball Draft. His influence can be seen throughout the SEC as four of his former assistants are now or have been head coaches — Brad Bohannon (Alabama), Gary Henderson (Kentucky/Mississippi State), Nick Mingione (Kentucky) and Butch Thompson (Auburn).

Cohen is the only coach in SEC history to win an SEC championship, SEC tournament championship, and advance to the College World Series both as a player and head coach. He and Ron Polk are the only two baseball coaches in SEC history to lead multiple schools to SEC titles. His 2013 Bulldog club advanced to the CWS championship series for the first time in MSU history. Cohen also had the privilege of being a part of a College World Series as a player, head coach and three times as an athletic director (2018, ’19, ’21).