Nick Mingione named on Mississippi State Coaching Hot Board

Following the firing of head coach Chris Lemonis, Kentucky Baseball Head Coach Nick Mingione popped up on Maroon and White Daily‘s Mississippi State Coaching Hot Board earlier today.

The decision to move on from Lemonis was not a surprising one, as the Bulldogs had posted a 118-98 (42-69) overall record since winning the Men’s College World Series in 2021. Firing Lemonis with 11 games left in the season however is a puzzling decision, especially given that he delivered the lone National Championship in program history just four seasons ago and there is proven to be no advantage to “getting a head start” on hiring a new coach.

Nick Mingione, who is a 2x SEC Coach of the Year and was named National Coach of the Year in 2024, is an obvious name to be tabbed as a potential candidate to replace Lemonis at Mississippi State. Why’s that? Well, before taking over as the head man at Kentucky in 2017, Mingione spent seven seasons as an assistant coach in Starkville (2009-2016).

“Like [Georgia Head Coach Wes] Johnson, Mingione has been a coach at State and knows what it takes to win in Starkville while also being able to embrace expectations for the Maroon and White,” said Maroon and White Daily’s Robbie Faulk. “The coach was a part of a staff that recruited National Championship caliber talent under John Cohen and helped lead the team to the CWS Finals in 2013 as well as the SEC Championship in ’16.”

However, there are little to no legs in Nick Mingione going back to his old school. This season, Mingione received an annual salary of $775,000 and that amount will increase by $100,000 every year until 2028, when it bumps up to $1,375,000. For every year earned after that, his pay will continue to increase by $200,000.

If Mississippi State were attempt to lure Mingione from Kentucky, he would owe the university the entire balance of his contract in the form of a buyout. “Kentucky has made it incredibly difficult for Mingione to leave, paying the coach $1.4 million per season for a contract that will now run through 2029,” said Faulk. “Both Mingione and [Wes] Johnson’s contracts could make things difficult for the Bulldogs if they truly wanted the coaches.”

Back in 2018, then Mississippi State head coach Andy Cannizaro resigned and Mingione was also named as a potential candidate then. “Anytime anybody loses their job, man that’s hard,” Mingione told Lexington Herald-Leader’s Jon Hale at the time. “You know what, that’s to be expected — my name, right? I spent over a decade with Coach [John] Cohen, like right? That’s like the obvious, right? Why wouldn’t they say my name? I just feel bad. That’s just an unfortunate deal. Man, I hate that for our sport.”

The Bulldogs ended up going with Lemonis (who was formerly at Indiana) as their guy, and got a National Championship out of it. Now, back to square one.

There is no need to fear, as there is currently no threat of Mingione jumping ship. In his nine seasons at Kentucky, the ‘Cats have posted an 289-197 (119-130) record while hosting three NCAA Tournament Regionals and an NCAA Tournament Super Regional. Kentucky also made the Men’s College World Series for the first time in 2024.