6 of our 9 CWS, my bad...
1979, 1981, 1985, 1990, 1997, 2007
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Although Cohen had to make a hire quickly he will tell you that he had been watching Cann for a while in case he had the opportunity to hire him. I think a little of this has to fall on Cohen and I think he would agree. Part of hiring someone for a public position is knowing about them personally as well as professionally. I?ll bet Cohen will have blood pressure spikes for a while when thinking about this.
Gregory went 21-5-1 and 14-1-1 in the SEC during 1962 and didnt even make the postseason
Yeah, I don't see how Cohen can take any responsibility for this. It's obvious that he did a lot of research. If there had been even a hint of a problem, he would have passed.
That said, I bet Cohen takes a deeper look into the personal life of the next candidates.
In the last 5 seasons we have made the CWS and 2 other Supers- the baseball program will be fine as long as the right coach replaces Cann. We arent in a dead period like we were when Polk tried to kill the program at the end of his career
That's because for once in our MSU lifetimes we took care of things before they got way too far out of hand.
And I'm not sure how much of a difference it would have made, but Cann allegedly lied about the affairs when Cohen asked him about it. If Cann had told Cohen the truth? I don't know what happens.
But yes, the players absolutely factored in. Some of them were interviewed about it and some had expressed their concerns to Cohen about Cann.
I think if he had simply kept coaching hard like he did last year and told the truth he would still be around. And maybe not? We'll never know.
I think Cohen made a brilliant hire - in Gary Henderson. By having Henderson on staff, he had a steady, experienced coach to back up Cann. Cann - while a hot commodity - was still unknown in terms of program management and loyalty. That is risky. What if Cann had done well last year, and the Yankees came calling with a AAA job or a shot at #2 in NY (Hell, they hired Aaron ****ing Boone - they could have just as well hired Cann). You had a trusted insurance policy sitting on the bench - and now that is paying off.
great point Brunswick
Henderson was a good hire. I was surprised that we were able to hire him, and surprised we were able to keep him after Cann was hired. After seeing him for a couple years now, he strikes me as a guy who's content with being a well paid assistant who doesn't have to be the public face of a large program. I guess we will see if that's the case.
Maybe I wasn’t clear — I’m not suggesting Ray was a good coach. I was just making a comparison on how a coaching hire shaped what people here say about Stricklin, yet that doesn’t seem to apply to Cohen.
I seem to be in the minority that think quite a bit of this does fall on Cohen’s shoulders. While no one ever makes great hires 100% of the time, this hire was his first, in his sport, and to be his successor. He owns some of the blame.
His legacy will be about hires/fires in the 3 big sports and he isn’t off to a good start....
I think Cohen is the best AD in the country, Im biased but who cares, and I wouldnt trade him for anyone. Hes probably one of the select few that really actually loves his school and always will put State first.
Amazing to think we've had Greg Byrne and John Cohen as AD's in recent years. 2 of the best in the country