Deep Dive Into The Candidates

[StarkVegasSteve]

I did this for football so figured I would bring it back with baseball and deep dive into, at least what I perceive to be, our Top 4 candidates:

1. Brian O'Conner-This is who all the buzz has been around and deservedly so. The guy has a national championship under his belt and has made it to Omaha 7 times, he's also a native of Omaha so I'm sure he loves getting back. He is a program builder at heart. He helped Paul Mainieri build that Notre Dame program in the late 90s-early 2000s. He also has completely built the UVA program to the level it is at today. Prior to O'Conner they had been to the NCAAT 3 times in their program history. He will come in Day 1 and the expectations will be Omaha. I have no doubt that will be relayed to him in any interview as well. UVA has had 13 First Round picks in O'Conner era so the player development and recruiting piece are definitely there. I would expect him to try and bring assistants with him since his have been with him so long. Kevin McMullan is the name everyone knows and they should. He's been with O'Conner the entire time and is a 2x national asst of the year. I would think he will also get a look at the UVA job if O'Conner elects to make the move, but would be a huge addition to our staff if he elected to move with O'Conner. Drew Dickinson is the pitching coach. I don't know that O'Conner would elect to bring him along. Their pitching has been iffy since he took over so I could see this as a spot where Justin Parker may have the opportunity to stay on as PC. Recruiting the portal is the one thing that worries me with O'Conner. He has not recruited the portal well at UVA, but some of that could be they just don't have the NIL to compete.

2. Erik Bakich-Think Cannizarro without the off the field issues. That is what Bakich brings to the table. He is an absolutely lights out recruiter and motivator. He has elevated the program wherever he has gone. He and Tim Corbin started the build at Vandy. He was the recruiting coordinator and recruited a lot of that talent that ended helping them win the CWS. He then took the Maryland job which was, without a doubt, one of the the worst baseball jobs in the P4. He elevated them every year and actually had a winning record his last year. He set them up for the success they now have had under John Szefc and Rob Vaughn. He then took the Michigan job and all he did was go to the CWS finals and the NCAAT 4 additional times. In his two years at Clemson he has hosted two straight regionals. He kind of got shafted in his first year by drawing Tennessee as the 2 and then ran up against the hottest team in the country in Florida last year in their Super. Bakich is not really beholden to any assistants so he may elect to hire a completely new staff here. He would probably be the most likely to keep Jake and Parker as assistants. The one concern with Bakich would be that he is a bit of a job hopper. Fortunately for us, I think we're a premier job. There's only 3-4 teams that could offer him what we could from a salary, facilities, and NIL standpoint.

3. Dan Fitzgerald-This is the name that won't go away. He is really politicking hard for the job and has made overtures multiple times to let it be known he wants an interview when that time comes. If you want Dan Heefner and can't get him, this is probably the closest you can get to him from a baseball standpoint. He was with Heefner for 9 years at DBU and was the recruiting coordinator for all of those years. He then followed Wes Johnson, both were assistants at DBU, and went to LSU to be their recruiting coordinator Jay Johnson's first year in Baton Rouge. He now is at Kansas and they have improved every year including a rapid ascent this year that has had them in the hosting conversation most of the year. If you want the recruiting hire, this is probably the guy. He recruits at an extremely high level and works the portal extremely well. As far as assistants, he's the same as Bakich, I don't really think he is beholden to any assistants. The concern with Fitzgerald is that going from the Big12 to the SEC is not just one step up, but two or three. He obviously has been in the conference, but it's different when you're in the head chair. Is he ready for those wars every weekend.

4. Mark Wasikowski-It seems his name has faded a bit since the start of this search, but I do know he definitely wants the job. And if he is your floor you have done a hell of a job in hiring. He has really built on what George Horton started at Oregon and has stabilized it to be one of the best programs on the West Coast. A lot of folks thought this would be the hire in 18 and he was really politicking hard for the job at the time. He definitely has an affinity for our job. He was great at Purdue before Oregon as well as he took them to their first NCAAT in 6 years and only the 3rd one in program history. He's been to the tournament every year at Oregon and has been to back to back Super Regionals. He has been in the SEC for just a little as he was with Andy Lopez his last 3 years at Florida. The obvious thing with him is that he's primarily been on the West Coast his whole coaching career so he has not recruited this part of the country much at all. Staff hires and recruiting coordinator will be the biggest things for him.


I truly believe our next HC will be one of these 4 names. And if that is the case, then we have done a really good job. All 4 are sitting P4 HCs and all have really good resumes. I know a lot of people are uneasy about Fitzgerald because he is at Kansas, but the guy was with Dan Heefner for 9 years and everyone wanted Heefner when this thing started.

[StateDawg44]

I've done my best to not let myself get too excited about one candidate. It's hard not to feel let down if we don't get 1 or 2 though and that is very likely the outcome though if I had to bet on it.

I'd be thrilled with 1&2. Home run hires if they happen and immediate impact.

3&4 may be good coaches. I don't know much about them. But I'd still be in wait and see mode until SEC play next season with either of these unless they just went bonkers in the portal. Which we likely will need. Even then, they still have to put it together and put the right staff together.

[KOdawg1]

Call me delusional and optimistic, but I think we get O'Conner.

The timing is right for him to make a move, he isn't getting what he wants financially from UVA, his buyout is only $500k... With revenue sharing becoming a thing, he knows he won't get as much money at UVA because they have other sports like soccer and lacrosse. And even though it's one down year, maybe he's seeing the writing on the wall there and realizes it's going to be much harder for him to win at a high level.

All the ingredients are there to make this happen. Only hold up I can see would be A&M coming in and 17ing it up.

[Coursesuper]

Believing is easy, knowing is hard.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Call me delusional and optimistic, but I think we get O'Conner.

The timing is right for him to make a move, he isn't getting what he wants financially from UVA, his buyout is only $500k... With revenue sharing becoming a thing, he knows he won't get as much money at UVA because they have other sports like soccer and lacrosse. And even though it's one down year, maybe he's seeing the writing on the wall there and realizes it's going to be much harder for him to win at a high level.

All the ingredients are there to make this happen. Only hold up I can see would be A&M coming in and 17ing it up.

Or him deciding that he is happy making 7 figures with no stress at UVA rather than make the same salary here with fans ready to BBQ him on a grill in the outfield the first time we lose a non con game. I have said from the beginning that our job is an absolute pressure cooker and it takes a certain type of mindset to be able to live in that moment 24-7-365. The expectations do not match the trophy case and you do not know that until you are in it. Lemonis talked about that a lot his first year.

[KB21]

Or him deciding that he is happy making 7 figures with no stress at UVA rather than make the same salary here with fans ready to BBQ him on a grill in the outfield the first time we lose a non con game. I have said from the beginning that our job is an absolute pressure cooker and it takes a certain type of mindset to be able to live in that moment 24-7-365. The expectations do not match the trophy case and you do not know that until you are in it. Lemonis talked about that a lot his first year.

I think O'Connor's desire to win is still very strong.

[Coursesuper]

Or him deciding that he is happy making 7 figures with no stress at UVA rather than make the same salary here with fans ready to BBQ him on a grill in the outfield the first time we lose a non con game. I have said from the beginning that our job is an absolute pressure cooker and it takes a certain type of mindset to be able to live in that moment 24-7-365. The expectations do not match the trophy case and you do not know that until you are in it. Lemonis talked about that a lot his first year.

This is very true, this job is a monster and it is not for every coach out there. There are a lot of really great coaches out there that are not the right guy for us. Also coaches know exactly what our job is.

[StarkVegasSteve]

I think O'Connor's desire to win is still very strong.

Of that I have no doubt. There are no coaches that do not have a desire to win. But this is not some rebuild that he is going to be given 2 years to get going. The expectation is Omaha from Day 1. Is he ready to be asked about Omaha every time he is out in public?

[KB21]

Of that I have no doubt. There are no coaches that do not have a desire to win. But this is not some rebuild that he is going to be given 2 years to get going. The expectation is Omaha from Day 1. Is he ready to be asked about Omaha every time he is out in public?

Honestly, I think our chance of getting him will be because his will to get to Omaha every year is bigger than the decision makers at UVA's will to get to Omaha every year. He made the comment after UVA's game the other night that if they don't get into the field, that it says a lot about their league as a whole.

[shoeless joe]

to me bakich would be my number 1 despite, as you mentioned, he's bounced around a bit. that could be him moving up the ladder quickly or it could be that he gets ancy and wants something new a lot. sure we can compete with almost anyone money wise but sometimes a rambler wants to ramble no matter what.

i would not be disappointed with anyone on that list. fitz would be the most underwhelming but still a good hire IMO. being the most underwhelming from that list isn't a bad place to be.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Honestly, I think our chance of getting him will be because his will to get to Omaha every year is bigger than the decision makers at UVA's will to get to Omaha every year. He made the comment after UVA's game the other night that if they don't get into the field, that it says a lot about their league as a whole.

And look, maybe all that is true. It's why I said he is the hot name and deservedly so. It will send shockwaves through the college baseball world if we are able to pull a sitting P4 national champion winning HC.

And maybe he will be better in the portal here because the funding will be better. This is why I hate hiring coaches because the longer it goes the more you nitpick coaches. I just can't get the mismanagement of his pitching against us in 21 out of my head.

There is just so much Cannizarro in Bakich, but he's mature. That's why I want him over O'Conner and I think why there is a push for him. But at the end of the day, NO ONE is going to be mad about hiring Brian O'Conner

[KB21]

And look, maybe all that is true. It's why I said he is the hot name and deservedly so. It will send shockwaves through the college baseball world if we are able to pull a sitting P4 national champion winning HC.

And maybe he will be better in the portal here because the funding will be better. This is why I hate hiring coaches because the longer it goes the more you nitpick coaches. I just can't get the mismanagement of his pitching against us in 21 out of my head.

There is just so much Cannizarro in Bakich, but he's mature. That's why I want him over O'Conner and I think why there is a push for him. But at the end of the day, NO ONE is going to be mad about hiring Brian O'Conner

Just as no one would be upset at hiring Bakich. I think when you compare resumes though, O'Connor clearly has the elite resume. I'd put Bakich in the "rising star" category. He doesn't quite have the post season success that O'Connor has had. Maybe this is the year he breaks through with Clemson and gets them to Omaha. In 15 seasons as a head coach (this year is his 16th), he has been to regional play 7 times. He has been to a super twice and Omaha once.

[msstate7]

If you can get BOC, you do it, period. Search over.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Just as no one would be upset at hiring Bakich. I think when you compare resumes though, O'Connor clearly has the elite resume. I'd put Bakich in the "rising star" category. He doesn't quite have the post season success that O'Connor has had. Maybe this is the year he breaks through with Clemson and gets them to Omaha. In 15 seasons as a head coach (this year is his 16th), he has been to regional play 7 times. He has been to a super twice and Omaha once.

100%. O'Conner has one of the best resumes of anyone currently coaching in college baseball. I mean there's only 8 ACTIVE HCs who have won a national championship still coaching so to say you have one of those would be HUGE.

[viverlibre]

Great work! Thanks.

BOC would be a grand-slam, but doubtful he?ll leave, he?s probably using interest in us as leverage.

Any other the others will he home runs.

[ScooterDog]

I just want to thank you Steve for such a good analysis you gave us on those 4 prospective coaches. Good job. Keep up the good work my friend.

[TNDawg35]

BOC or Bakich would grand slams. The more I read about Bakich, the more I would rather have him, but won’t be picky with either…

[BigDawg81]

Talking about Waz. It’s wild to me that Supertalk Mississippi with Hadad and quite frankly Faulk with On3 thinks the coach will either be O’Connor or Waz. However, Steve is saying that we haven’t talked to Waz. There is a disconnect between sources somewhere. Another mod said, the agents could be talking to Waz agents.

[cheewgumm]

Good stuff, thank you!

[SPMT]

I hope you are right SVS but you are going to have to go to Willowbrook Psychiatric Ward if you aren?t.


Intent be shocked if it is some no name we?ve never heard of. I?ll be disappointed but not shocked.

[sandjunky]

One candidate not to be named would be a grand slam hire as well

[Turfdawg67]

Been a State fan tooooo damn long to get excited for one of those four. I'll prepare myself to be disappointed... again.

[Coach34]

I'm still in the camp of #1 and #2 wont be our next HC.

#3 would validate literally everything I've said about our program- yet still could be called a good hire

#4 would be a West Coast guy that would be a huge risk but is a good coach

[DownwardDawg]

Been a State fan tooooo damn long to get excited for one of those four. I'll prepare myself to be disappointed... again.

Yep. It's gonna be Butch or an assistant like Coggin or Elander.
And those could all be great here.

[Ezsoil]

If it's O'Connor maybe Grisham will come home ....

[BigDawg81]

Apparently, State is close to making a hire but not quite there yet.

[Todd4State]

to me bakich would be my number 1 despite, as you mentioned, he's bounced around a bit. that could be him moving up the ladder quickly or it could be that he gets ancy and wants something new a lot. sure we can compete with almost anyone money wise but sometimes a rambler wants to ramble no matter what.

i would not be disappointed with anyone on that list. fitz would be the most underwhelming but still a good hire IMO. being the most underwhelming from that list isn't a bad place to be.


And look, maybe all that is true. It's why I said he is the hot name and deservedly so. It will send shockwaves through the college baseball world if we are able to pull a sitting P4 national champion winning HC.

And maybe he will be better in the portal here because the funding will be better. This is why I hate hiring coaches because the longer it goes the more you nitpick coaches. I just can't get the mismanagement of his pitching against us in 21 out of my head.

There is just so much Cannizarro in Bakich, but he's mature. That's why I want him over O'Conner and I think why there is a push for him. But at the end of the day, NO ONE is going to be mad about hiring Brian O'Conner


100%. O'Conner has one of the best resumes of anyone currently coaching in college baseball. I mean there's only 8 ACTIVE HCs who have won a national championship still coaching so to say you have one of those would be HUGE.

I agree with all of these first three posts. O'Conner is a guy you can't turn down. But I personally feel like Bakich is the best fit for MSU and what our ultimate goals are. I wouldn't be unhappy with any of the four listed but Fitzgerald would be a bit underwhelming to me.


Talking about Waz. It?s wild to me that Supertalk Mississippi with Hadad and quite frankly Faulk with On3 thinks the coach will either be O?Connor or Waz. However, Steve is saying that we haven?t talked to Waz. There is a disconnect between sources somewhere. Another mod said, the agents could be talking to Waz agents.

Both clearly have different sources. That has been evident in other coaching searches as well. Steve's source is usually Selmon or whoever the AD is. He gives you what MSU wants you to know. Which is not a criticism- some things don't need to be put out in the best interests of Mississippi State University. I'm not sure who Robbie's source is but I suspect that in this case it's someone like Aaron Fitt or Kendall Rodgers who are getting fed info from agents because as it has been said on here multiple times that Faulk is not well liked at MSU. Which leads me to believe that Waz probably is interested in our job but is behind O'Conner and Bakich at this point. He might very well be behind Fitzgerald as well.

[Todd4State]

Yep. It's gonna be Butch or an assistant like Coggin or Elander.
And those could all be great here.

To be frank that would be very disappointing. Butch would win but I don't think he would really contend for NC's. Coggin probably would work out but we would have to deal with some growing pains. Elander has never given me warm fuzzies. I just think our job is too big for him at this moment and it probably wouldn't end very well and then we're right back to where we started. I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up at South Carolina or Texas A&M and I do think those jobs are going to come open this cycle. Maybe Alabama as well if A&M hires Vaughn.

My concern is that Selmon goes rogue like Stricklin did with Ray and hires Reggie Willits or something stupid like that.

[Todd4State]

Apparently, State is close to making a hire but not quite there yet.

Will not happen until after the regionals at the earliest. IMO the best thing for MSU would be to at least make a SR.

Then we can all evaluate all of our candidates and do so without feeling the pressure hire O'Conner immediately. Not that that is a bad thing. I just think if Bakich is a real option you have to consider it.

[Todd4State]

I did this for football so figured I would bring it back with baseball and deep dive into, at least what I perceive to be, our Top 4 candidates:

1. Brian O'Conner-This is who all the buzz has been around and deservedly so. The guy has a national championship under his belt and has made it to Omaha 7 times, he's also a native of Omaha so I'm sure he loves getting back. He is a program builder at heart. He helped Paul Mainieri build that Notre Dame program in the late 90s-early 2000s. He also has completely built the UVA program to the level it is at today. Prior to O'Conner they had been to the NCAAT 3 times in their program history. He will come in Day 1 and the expectations will be Omaha. I have no doubt that will be relayed to him in any interview as well. UVA has had 13 First Round picks in O'Conner era so the player development and recruiting piece are definitely there. I would expect him to try and bring assistants with him since his have been with him so long. Kevin McMullan is the name everyone knows and they should. He's been with O'Conner the entire time and is a 2x national asst of the year. I would think he will also get a look at the UVA job if O'Conner elects to make the move, but would be a huge addition to our staff if he elected to move with O'Conner. Drew Dickinson is the pitching coach. I don't know that O'Conner would elect to bring him along. Their pitching has been iffy since he took over so I could see this as a spot where Justin Parker may have the opportunity to stay on as PC. Recruiting the portal is the one thing that worries me with O'Conner. He has not recruited the portal well at UVA, but some of that could be they just don't have the NIL to compete.


The rumor have heard is that O'Conner would bring his entire staff including McMullen which would be awesome. O'Conner and Dickenson have a very close working relationship. I would be very surprised if he kept Parker unless Parker stays on as a lab analyst or something. Which I would have to believe is highly unlikely.

You and I are both Bakich fans. I think he would be here for the long haul personally. He's the type of coach that would do well at MSU because he is very driven. I suspect they might promote Nate Schnable one of their assistants if Bakich leaves because they have a very good reputation for producing elite assistants that turn into great head coaches. One thing I like about Bakich is I think at MSU he would be able to attract elite assistants.

The biggest thing I'm not wild about with Fitzgerald is how much he relies on JUCO. Maybe he won't do that here because quite frankly we're not Kansas and we don't have to but he does have a background as a JUCO coach and those tend to be partial to JUCO players sometimes. At least he has been at LSU so he knows about the SEC and being at a high level program. Having been at Dallas Baptist he is probably pretty religious and that is going to play up with some of our fans in Bible Belt Mississippi in a good way.

Don't forget that Waz was also at Purdue as their head coach. He has taken a good program at Oregon and taken them up a notch. Personally, I think he would do well here. I like him better than Fitzgerald.

[KB21]

Dan Fitzgerald intrigues me as a potential rising star type of candidate. He has nowhere near the resume that guys like Brian O'Connor, Erik Bakich, Mark Wasikowski, or Tom Walter have, but he has done exceptionally well in a short period of time at a program that doesn't have much baseball history at all. His background is intriguing. He was on the same staff as Wes Johnson at DBU before Cohen hired Wes away. He was with Heefner through 2021. He had one year at LSU as recruiting coordinator that produced the #1 overall high school recruiting class in the country.

DBU is a program who has leveled the playing field with their ability to evaluate talent and develop that talent. Wes Johnson is one of the more analytical head coaches in college, and I have a feeling that Dan Fitzgerald would be the same way.

[KB21]

The rumor have heard is that O'Conner would bring his entire staff including McMullen which would be awesome. O'Conner and Dickenson have a very close working relationship. I would be very surprised if he kept Parker unless Parker stays on as a lab analyst or something. Which I would have to believe is highly unlikely.

You and I are both Bakich fans. I think he would be here for the long haul personally. He's the type of coach that would do well at MSU because he is very driven. I suspect they might promote Nate Schnable one of their assistants if Bakich leaves because they have a very good reputation for producing elite assistants that turn into great head coaches. One thing I like about Bakich is I think at MSU he would be able to attract elite assistants.

The biggest thing I'm not wild about with Fitzgerald is how much he relies on JUCO. Maybe he won't do that here because quite frankly we're not Kansas and we don't have to but he does have a background as a JUCO coach and those tend to be partial to JUCO players sometimes. At least he has been at LSU so he knows about the SEC and being at a high level program. Having been at Dallas Baptist he is probably pretty religious and that is going to play up with some of our fans in Bible Belt Mississippi in a good way.

Don't forget that Waz was also at Purdue as their head coach. He has taken a good program at Oregon and taken them up a notch. Personally, I think he would do well here. I like him better than Fitzgerald.

What's fun about that is that Lemonis almost hired Dan Dickenson to be the pitching coach. Instead, he hired Justin Parker.

[The Federalist Engineer]

The rumor have heard is that O'Conner would bring his entire staff including McMullen which would be awesome. O'Conner and Dickenson have a very close working relationship. I would be very surprised if he kept Parker unless Parker stays on as a lab analyst or something. Which I would have to believe is highly unlikely.

You and I are both Bakich fans. I think he would be here for the long haul personally. He's the type of coach that would do well at MSU because he is very driven. I suspect they might promote Nate Schnable one of their assistants if Bakich leaves because they have a very good reputation for producing elite assistants that turn into great head coaches. One thing I like about Bakich is I think at MSU he would be able to attract elite assistants.

The biggest thing I'm not wild about with Fitzgerald is how much he relies on JUCO. Maybe he won't do that here because quite frankly we're not Kansas and we don't have to but he does have a background as a JUCO coach and those tend to be partial to JUCO players sometimes. At least he has been at LSU so he knows about the SEC and being at a high level program. Having been at Dallas Baptist he is probably pretty religious and that is going to play up with some of our fans in Bible Belt Mississippi in a good way.

Don't forget that Waz was also at Purdue as their head coach. He has taken a good program at Oregon and taken them up a notch. Personally, I think he would do well here. I like him better than Fitzgerald.

Utilizing JUCO is not bad. For Kansas, it's smart. You have those good JUCO programs in Oklahoma and Kansas. But he has dudes from everywhere Tennessee to St Cloud State to UC Upstate.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Based on what Rosey reported this morning it seems like we are centering in on O’Conner, but the hire will not be made until we are finished, I would say them as well but it looks like they are going to miss the tournament.

[Coursesuper]

Based on what Rosey reported this morning it seems like we are centering in on O’Conner, but the hire will not be made until we are finished, I would say them as well but it looks like they are going to miss the tournament.

I?m going to have to take a wait and see approach to anything Rosey puts out there.

[basedog]

I?m going to have to take a wait and see approach to anything Rosey puts out there.

I will say BOC has been the number one target from day one. We shall see soon, IF he is and whenever their season ends, I hope we have a press conference right away. Regardless if we are still playing.

[Coursesuper]

I will say BOC has been the number one target from day one. We shall see soon, IF he is and whenever their season ends, I hope we have a press conference right away. Regardless if we are still playing.

UVA?s chance for a bid evaporated last night, so things line up for well that to occur. But Rosey is definitely not talking to the guys running our search. They aren?t talking to anybody.

[KB21]

The latest updates from both D1 and BA has UVA in.

[DownwardDawg]

One candidate not to be named would be a grand slam hire as well

Interesting

[Coursesuper]

The latest updates from both D1 and BA has UVA in.

Tulane stole a bid last night. Not good for UVA?s chances.

[StarkVegasSteve]

I will say BOC has been the number one target from day one. We shall see soon, IF he is and whenever their season ends, I hope we have a press conference right away. Regardless if we are still playing.

That will not happen. I have been told by multiple people that we are waiting until we are done to make an official announcement.

[confucius say]

The latest updates from both D1 and BA has UVA in.

Which is wild. Wonder when the last time a team 60 or worse in rpi has gotten an at large bid

[Todd4State]

Which is wild. Wonder when the last time a team 60 or worse in rpi has gotten an at large bid

Conference realignment has made RPI really wonky.

I suspect they recalibrate the formula soon.

[Todd4State]

That will not happen. I have been told by multiple people that we are waiting until we are done to make an official announcement.

That's the right thing to do.

[StarkVegasSteve]

That's the right thing to do.

I mean we say that but we, depending on who you listen to, lost Schloss last time because we would not go ahead and announce. I do agree that it is the right thing to do though.

[Todd4State]

I mean we say that but we, depending on who you listen to, lost Schloss last time because we would not go ahead and announce. I do agree that it is the right thing to do though.

I blame that more on Cohen than anything.

Schlossnagle should have been more understanding too. Waiting until a team is done with the postseason is not an unreasonable ask.

Especially at that point- it would have been what? A week at the most.

[KB21]

There is so much smoke around BOC right now that I have a hard time not believing he?s the guy. This feels different than when all the smoke on the football hire was around Jamey Chadwell. No one is shooting the idea of BOC down. Chadwell got shot down by at least one that covers the team early in the process while others kept pushing him as the priority.

[Quaoarsking]

Worst case scenario is that O'Connor tentatively agrees with us, we decide to wait until our season ends, and then in the meantime Texas A&M decides to make a change after all, and steals him away from us.

If O'Connor is the guy, we need to announce him as soon as O'Connor is ready to commit, regardless of what's going on in our postseason. If anything, it might fire our program up some to know the big changes that are coming.

Also, O'Connor could go ahead and start talking to recruits and transfers next week rather than waiting 1, 2, or 3 more weeks.

[StateDawg44]

Worst case scenario is that O'Connor tentatively agrees with us, we decide to wait until our season ends, and then in the meantime Texas A&M decides to make a change after all, and steals him away from us.

If O'Connor is the guy, we need to announce him as soon as O'Connor is ready to commit, regardless of what's going on in our postseason. If anything, it might fire our program up some to know the big changes that are coming.

I agree. I totally understand waiting for the other guys team to be done.

But what difference will it make if we announced IF we were still playing. It?s not like we gonna get hot and win it all.

What would we lose by waiting other than time the new HC could be working the portal? Hell, if we are still playing he has a program to sell to these portal players.

[Quaoarsking]

I agree. I totally understand waiting for the other guys team to be done.

But what difference will it make if we announced IF we were still playing. It?s not like we gonna get hot and win it all.

What would we lose by waiting other than time the new HC could be working the portal? Hell, if we are still playing he has a program to sell to these portal players.

And even if we did, I'd still want O'Connor over Parker and would be happy to have the decision already formalized.

[Cooterpoot]

Worst case scenario is that O'Connor tentatively agrees with us, we decide to wait until our season ends, and then in the meantime Texas A&M decides to make a change after all, and steals him away from us.

If O'Connor is the guy, we need to announce him as soon as O'Connor is ready to commit, regardless of what's going on in our postseason. If anything, it might fire our program up some to know the big changes that are coming.

Also, O'Connor could go ahead and start talking to recruits and transfers next week rather than waiting 1, 2, or 3 more weeks.

He can sign a contract without it being announced

[Todd4State]

There is so much smoke around BOC right now that I have a hard time not believing he?s the guy. This feels different than when all the smoke on the football hire was around Jamey Chadwell. No one is shooting the idea of BOC down. Chadwell got shot down by at least one that covers the team early in the process while others kept pushing him as the priority.

The only place I saw that had Chadwell as a legit option was Robbie and Paul's board. I don't remember seeing it being posted much here at all unless it was someone saying that he wasn't coming and Steve pretty much shot it down the whole time. Which doesn't speak well for Waz unless Robbie has a lot better baseball contacts.


Worst case scenario is that O'Connor tentatively agrees with us, we decide to wait until our season ends, and then in the meantime Texas A&M decides to make a change after all, and steals him away from us.

If O'Connor is the guy, we need to announce him as soon as O'Connor is ready to commit, regardless of what's going on in our postseason. If anything, it might fire our program up some to know the big changes that are coming.

Also, O'Connor could go ahead and start talking to recruits and transfers next week rather than waiting 1, 2, or 3 more weeks.

Worse case scenario would be we hire O'Connor and then he pulls a Bill Bellichick move like he did with the Jets and still goes to A&M. I think that is a bit of a stretch to think that would happen because as far as I know O'Connor doesn't have ties to A&M, I'm not sure how he feels about them choosing Earley over him, and we weren't an option last time. There is a very good possibility that he would have picked us over A&M anyway. Yes, A&M has money but there is also a market and I don't think they would pay him 3 million if they can just pivot and get Rob Vaughn anyway.


He can sign a contract without it being announced

This is true. And it's true for other potential targets as well.

The reality is we are going to be in a regional and most of if not all of our prime targets are going to be in regionals as well. Once eliminations and things happen then we can go further along with the process.

[CaptainObvious]

He can sign a contract without it being announced

They could. But in today's social media environment, no way that remains a secret. If anyone signs before we are finished playing it will get out. Now, and agreement in principle may be kept quiet for a bit. But it will leak out if Selmon signs a coach before announcing it.

[Todd4State]

They could. But in today's social media environment, no way that remains a secret. If anyone signs before we are finished playing it will get out. Now, and agreement in principle may be kept quiet for a bit. But it will leak out if Selmon signs a coach before announcing it.

Yeah. If O'Connor resigns from Virginia while we're in a regional- it's going to be pretty obvious what is going to happen. LOL.

I do think- and this is the ONLY reason why I think it might be someone other than O'Connor- a lot of coaches are competitors first and foremost and do care about their players for the most part. (Unless they're Paul Manieri or Jimmy Bragan but I digress) and even if they are unhappy and want to move on most of them don't want a ton of rumors floating around out there. They don't want to have to answer questions like Schlossnagle had to answer last year in Omaha about job openings. That was a no win situation for Schlossnagle.

With O'Connor I'm not sure if the rumors would be out there if it wasn't for what happened LAST year. I think everyone knows he is looking and why- there have been literal articles basically confirming rumors about the situation there. So, I'm 100% sure he is interested. Plus in his case he may really want to stay but he knows he needs resources that they aren't willing to give him to sustain it and he may be using our job as a last ditch effort to get that.

Waz sounds to me like something being leaked by an agent.

Fitzgerald just seems like an obvious candidate that is our floor. I don't think it matters how he handles it because I doubt Kansas would do anything if we decided to hire him. We could probably pay him less than we paid Lemonis and he would still get a significant raise and they probably wouldn't even counter.

[Cooterpoot]

They could. But in today's social media environment, no way that remains a secret. If anyone signs before we are finished playing it will get out. Now, and agreement in principle may be kept quiet for a bit. But it will leak out if Selmon signs a coach before announcing it.

I'm talking if they're finished but we're still playing. He can sign a contract no problem and it not be released but you're right, his buyout part would be the problem, too many bourbons tonight

[DownwardDawg]

Virginia will still be playing next week, so I don't expect anything if OConner is really a candidate.
No way they get left out because they didn't get to play FSU due to the school shooting. I had forgotten about that but heard the announcer talking about it in this ACC tournament championship game.

[Tater]

I agree. I totally understand waiting for the other guys team to be done.

But what difference will it make if we announced IF we were still playing. It?s not like we gonna get hot and win it all.

What would we lose by waiting other than time the new HC could be working the portal? Hell, if we are still playing he has a program to sell to these portal players.

We absolutely have the talent to suddenly get hot and win it all. This is college baseball. If two pitchers find it (think Siary against OM level of finding it) and the softball lineup that we have mashes, then we're in Omaha.

[KB21]

Virginia will still be playing next week, so I don't expect anything if OConner is really a candidate.
No way they get left out because they didn't get to play FSU due to the school shooting. I had forgotten about that but heard the announcer talking about it in this ACC tournament championship game.

Both BA and D1 have Virginia out at this point.

[Cowbell]

I have continued to reiterate that O'Conner is most likely not the guy. But if he is, why are we that excited about a guy that can't even make a regional out of the ACC? I get that he has had great seasons. But it's a new day in college baseball and I feel like we need someone that is promising in the new environment.

[CaptainObvious]

I have continued to reiterate that O'Conner is most likely not the guy. But if he is, why are we that excited about a guy that can't even make a regional out of the ACC? I get that he has had great seasons. But it's a new day in college baseball and I feel like we need someone that is promising in the new environment.

We also have no idea if Lemonis could have turned things back around if he had been allowed to coach out the season. But the evidence was there that he had his best seasons with the majority of the team being recruited by someone else. The 7 trips Virginia has made to Omaha under O'Connor, most likely were his recruits. And oh yeah. They beat Lemonis reinvented State team last year with BoC recruits. They have had a good season but may get punished because the bottom half of their conference is worse than the bottom half of ours!

If we can sign any of the supposed Top 3 of O'Connor, Bakich, or Wasikowski, we "should be able to turn it around quickly and not have to go through a total rebuild!

[Quaoarsking]

I have continued to reiterate that O'Conner is most likely not the guy. But if he is, why are we that excited about a guy that can't even make a regional out of the ACC? I get that he has had great seasons. But it's a new day in college baseball and I feel like we need someone that is promising in the new environment.

Jesus fuсking Christ, I've conclusively demonstrated probably a dozen times on this board exactly why O'Connor (not O'Conner) is not to blame for UVA's failure to make a Regional this year, it's all a combination of bad luck, bad support from his AD, and the general fall of ACC prestige, 0% on him. That's the reason he's looking to get out of there.

I knew this would happen. I knew it. People who think small would be desperate to contrive any illegitimate reason to try to ѕhit on what would be the best college baseball hire of the 21st century because they just don't think Mississippi State is worthy of it.

[EdwardDrayton]

So Q, don't hold back anything, what do you really think??!!?? LOL!!!

[KB21]

BOC has been to Omaha in 3 of the past 4 years. If they don?t get in, this is only the 2nd time in his 22 seasons that UVA hasn?t made the postseason. Back in 2018 when we wanted Schlossnagle, his TCU team didn?t make it to the postseason.

BOC is a legit ELITE college baseball head coach. He?s in the same stratosphere as Jim Schlossnagle, DVH, Sully, Corbin, and Vitello. He?s the only possibility that is at that level.

[Quaoarsking]

If Chris Lemonis had finished 16-11 in the SEC in the years he missed a Regional, including an entire series canceled after a shooting that prevented a big RPI opportunity, we wouldn't have held it against him, at least not nearly so much as when he went 9-21.

[DownwardDawg]

I have continued to reiterate that O'Conner is most likely not the guy. But if he is, why are we that excited about a guy that can't even make a regional out of the ACC? I get that he has had great seasons. But it's a new day in college baseball and I feel like we need someone that is promising in the new environment.

When did he miss a Regional???

[Tripp McNeely]

But if he is, why are we that excited about a guy that can't even make a regional out of the ACC?.

Because he's already too busy recruiting the portal for State to be worried about making a regional with his old team this year!

[Todd4State]

We also have no idea if Lemonis could have turned things back around if he had been allowed to coach out the season. But the evidence was there that he had his best seasons with the majority of the team being recruited by someone else. The 7 trips Virginia has made to Omaha under O'Connor, most likely were his recruits. And oh yeah. They beat Lemonis reinvented State team last year with BoC recruits. They have had a good season but may get punished because the bottom half of their conference is worse than the bottom half of ours!

If we can sign any of the supposed Top 3 of O'Connor, Bakich, or Wasikowski, we "should be able to turn it around quickly and not have to go through a total rebuild!

Even if we hired someone not in the top three we should be able to turn it around quickly.

[DownwardDawg]

Because he's already too busy recruiting the portal for State to be worried about making a regional with his old team this year!

I believe Virginia will be in a regional.

[Quaoarsking]

Virginia deserves to be in a Regional. It's not their fault their biggest RPI opportunity got canceled.

But selfishly, I hope they're not. Imagine if O'Connor is all set to come here, but then leads them on a deep run (he's at worst a top 5 coach in all of college baseball, after all) and they decide to give him the commitment he wants after all.

I'd much rather have him announced and official in 48 hours, instead of waiting another week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, whatever.

[bigbub50]

Jesus fuсking Christ, I've conclusively demonstrated probably a dozen times on this board exactly why O'Connor (not O'Conner) is not to blame for UVA's failure to make a Regional this year, it's all a combination of bad luck, bad support from his AD, and the general fall of ACC prestige, 0% on him. That's the reason he's looking to get out of there.

I knew this would happen. I knew it. People who think small would be desperate to contrive any illegitimate reason to try to ѕhit on what would be the best college baseball hire of the 21st century because they just don't think Mississippi State is worthy of it.

This is the kind of intensity I want from our players next year!

[confucius say]

I have continued to reiterate that O'Conner is most likely not the guy. But if he is, why are we that excited about a guy that can't even make a regional out of the ACC? I get that he has had great seasons. But it's a new day in college baseball and I feel like we need someone that is promising in the new environment.

Seriously? Hasn't he been to Omaha like 3 out of the last 4 years? And made a regional 20 out of 21 seasons?

[Quaoarsking]

Nebraska's just stole a bid knocking out another bubble team. Cal Poly in the 1st inning trying to do the same thing.

Get O'Connor to Starkville ASAP!

[Coursesuper]

Nebraska's just stole a bid knocking out another bubble team. Cal Poly in the 1st inning trying to do the same thing.

Get O'Connor to Starkville ASAP!

What are yall gonna do if he isn?t the guy? All yall have hitched your hopes on one guy with zero real evidence.

[Todd4State]

Virginia deserves to be in a Regional. It's not their fault their biggest RPI opportunity got canceled.

But selfishly, I hope they're not. Imagine if O'Connor is all set to come here, but then leads them on a deep run (he's at worst a top 5 coach in all of college baseball, after all) and they decide to give him the commitment he wants after all.

I'd much rather have him announced and official in 48 hours, instead of waiting another week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks, whatever.

I wouldn't be surprised if the committee takes RPI into less account than usual. You have some P4 teams that had really good seasons in conference that have lower than expected RPI's.

[Todd4State]

What are yall gonna do if he isn?t the guy? All yall have hitched your hopes on one guy with zero real evidence.

I think most people would be happy with Bakich or Waz too. Fitzgerald maybe should excite our fans more but he would be a good hire.

[DownwardDawg]

I think most people would be happy with Bakich or Waz too. Fitzgerald maybe should excite our fans more but he would be a good hire.

I want the clempson dude, Bakich. I still expect Butch though.

[Quaoarsking]

What are yall gonna do if he isn?t the guy? All yall have hitched your hopes on one guy with zero real evidence.

Depends on who the hire is, anywhere from "oh OK, that's fine too" to "well that sucks and Selmon and Keenum really dropped the ball." I'll still support the team and program next year regardless, just like I did in 2024 and 2025.

But I wouldn't say there's "zero real evidence." You have national guys, MSU beat writers, and UVA beat writers all calling him a top candidate.

[Coursesuper]

Depends on who the hire is, anywhere from "oh OK, that's fine too" to "well that sucks and Selmon and Keenum really dropped the ball." I'll still support the team and program next year regardless, just like I did in 2024 and 2025.

But I wouldn't say there's "zero real evidence." You have national guys, MSU beat writers, and UVA beat writers all calling him a top candidate.

I would just take what any writer is saying with a grain of salt they all are selling something. One other point the AD is not the primary person leading this search.

[KOdawg1]

I want the clempson dude, Bakich. I still expect Butch though.

Butch is down the list for me, but us hiring him would still excite me. He runs a good program and embraces the transfer portal which is something our next coach needs to do.

Before anyone jumps in, yes, I know it's not happening.

[KOdawg1]

My excitement meter for potential hires:

BOC: 10/10
Bakich: 10/10
Wasikowski: 9.5/10
Butch: 8/10
Pollard: 8/10
Walter: 7/10
Fitz: like a 6; he'd be a good coach but it's kinda meh for me
Skip Johnson: 5/10

[DownwardDawg]

Butch is down the list for me, but us hiring him would still excite me. He runs a good program and embraces the transfer portal which is something our next coach needs to do.

Before anyone jumps in, yes, I know it's not happening.

Nobody on this board knows if it's happening or not. Everyone is guessing.

[DownwardDawg]

My excitement meter for potential hires:

BOC: 10/10
Bakich: 10/10
Wasikowski: 9.5/10
Butch: 8/10
Pollard: 8/10
Walter: 7/10
Fitz: like a 6; he'd be a good coach but it's kinda meh for me
Skip Johnson: 5/10

I'm with you.

[KOdawg1]

Nobody on this board knows if it's happening or not. Everyone is guessing.

People who would know are pretty adamant that Butch ain't happening. Steve is BFF's with Cohen, so he probably has a pretty good source on that.

[Quaoarsking]

Nebraska's just stole a bid knocking out another bubble team. Cal Poly in the 1st inning trying to do the same thing.

Get O'Connor to Starkville ASAP!

And Cal Poly steals a bid too. Although I would still personally find them a spot if I were on the committee, it seems unlikely that they'll be in now with 2 spots evaporating today.

Get O'Connor to Starkville ASAP!

[Cowbell]

Because he's already too busy recruiting the portal for State to be worried about making a regional with his old team this year!

LOL

[viverlibre]

It's not getting past these three. Salmon's future depends on this hire and he knows it. If he wants to get a bigger job, he will have to knock it out of the park with this hire.

BOC
Bakich
Wasikowski

[sandjunky]

Butch would be an underwhelming hire

[Ranchdawg]

I have only one time had inside knowledge of a coaching hire. A long time ago! When internet was in its very early stages.

Story: I had a good friend that played football at Georgia tech. He became a very big booster at Ga.Tech. He was very close friends with the then head coach Bill Curry. For several years he would invite me and wife to Atlanta for Ga.Tech vs Georgia football game. He sideline passes for he and I. One year the game was being played in Atlanta. Friend told me to ride with him that he wanted to go to coach Curry’s house the day before the game to deliver his Christmas present to Coach Curry. We arrive at coach Curry’s house were greeted by coach Curry and asked to come in. Coach Curry told friend and me to promise not say a word but that he had just accepted an offer to become head coach at the University of Alabama. This ended up being approximately two weeks before it was publicly announced. It was very hard for me to keep the secret but I did.

So I assume most coaching hires are usually done way in advance of public announcements. Therefore I would believe that who ever our new baseball coach is either already decided or very close to being a done deal.

[Pancho]

Selmon is doing the work and now it's a waiting game simply for timings sake. This is how a real coaching search should be coordinated.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Take it FWIW, but the latest report from Rosey is not great. Sounds like UVA is going to do everything they can to keep O’Conner. I had always kind of had doubts that we would get him, and had expressed those. I had grown a little more optimistic in the last 48-72 hours that we would pull it off. And look, we may still be able to pull it off, but I would say the chances are not as good as most hope.

I have said from the jump that something just felt like Erik Bakich would be the hire when it is all said and done and I do believe that is where we turn once the O’Conner courtship has officially ended.

[KOdawg1]

Feels like it'll be Tom Walter or Dan Fitzgerald which would be solid hires but disappointing

[Quaoarsking]

Take it FWIW, but the latest report from Rosey is not great. Sounds like UVA is going to do everything they can to keep O’Conner. I had always kind of had doubts that we would get him, and had expressed those. I had grown a little more optimistic in the last 48-72 hours that we would pull it off. And look, we may still be able to pull it off, but I would say the chances are not as good as most hope.

I have said from the jump that something just felt like Erik Bakich would be the hire when it is all said and done and I do believe that is where we turn once the O’Conner courtship has officially ended.

Hopefully we get good news in an hour and can start finalizing with him directly, rather than Virginia getting another week to reel him back in.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Feels like it'll be Tom Walter or Dan Fitzgerald which would be solid hires but disappointing

Walter would be more disappointing than Fitzgerald. I think people could get behind Fitzgerald. Walter, without Muscara, would probably be one of the more underwhelming hires we could make. And Muscara will get that Wake job the second Walter leaves.

[ScottH]

I have said from the jump that something just felt like Erik Bakich would be the hire when it is all said and done and I do believe that is where we turn once the O’Conner courtship has officially ended.

As of yesterday, I will be surprised if you are not pleased.

[basedog]

SR may be right or he may not. I'm sure Virgina doesn't want to see BOC walk away, we shall see very soon IF the damage can be fixed at Virgina or has it gone too far. Anything can happen in today's world. SR knows about as much as many of us, LOL!

I'm hoping for BOC but there a few others that I would love to get also. Btw, anyone on the so-called list is better than the Bucket Coach we had, what a shame as his history came back to cost him a gifted job. Better days ahead.

[BigDawg81]

I am sure that Virginia feels optimistic about O’Connor and I am also pretty sure that we were optimistic on keeping Dan Mullen until we wasn’t. I would like BOC but I also thought that Fitzgerald is type of that we would hire.

[Santiago]

SR may be right or he may not. I'm sure Virgina doesn't want to see BOC walk away, we shall see very soon IF the damage can be fixed at Virgina or has it gone too far. Anything can happen in today's world. SR knows about as much as many of us, LOL!

I'm hoping for BOC but there a few others that I would love to get also. Btw, anyone on the so-called list is better than the Bucket Coach we had, what a shame as his history came back to cost him a gifted job. Better days ahead.

Steve at least is getting information from the admin, not for the HC, but to navigate the audience. If he is preparing the masses, it says something. Or information to help with distractions for the week.

[Quaoarsking]

Steve's statement doesn't really mean anything. He's "right" either way.

O'Connor stays at Virginia - no search - Steve was right!
O'Connor leaves Virginia - they promote their associate head coach who's been there for 20 years - Steve was right!

[ZedFedder]

I really don?t listen to Steve. Maybe he knows but he always wiggles out if he is wrong.

[basedog]

I think Virginia has to let the players what is going on this week. With school out players going home need to know or want to know what there options are for summer ball and of course portal options.

If BOC stays it will be known shortly now.

[DawgFromOxford]

I think Virginia has to let the players what is going on this week. With school out players going home need to know or want to know what there options are for summer ball and of course portal options.

If BOC stays it will be known shortly now.

This. May not come from our administration but I expect the writing to be on the wall one way or another from Virginia?s camp.

[basedog]

This. May not come from our administration but I expect the writing to be on the wall one way or another from Virginia?s camp.

I can't see or think Virgina will drag this out very long.

[Todd4State]

I mean Virginia isn't going to tell Steve "Yeah 17 O'Connor he's yours. We don't care."

He is literally their best baseball coach ever. They have to make it look like they are at least trying to keep him. This would be like us if LSU wanted Polk to replace Bertman back in the day and Polk wanted to leave because of the scholarship situation being better there at the time with TOPS. We would absolutely look like we would be doing everything we could to keep our best coach in school history. Even if we wouldn't or couldn't.

[Todd4State]

I think Virginia has to let the players what is going on this week. With school out players going home need to know or want to know what there options are for summer ball and of course portal options.

If BOC stays it will be known shortly now.

I think the deadline is July for baseball as far as entering the portal. Even if they changed it or I'm just wrong the NCAA has been lenient towards players transferring out when there is a head coaching change.

And as far as summer ball that cake is baked for the players no matter what.

[StarkVegasSteve]

I mean Virginia isn't going to tell Steve "Yeah 17 O'Connor he's yours. We don't care."

He is literally their best baseball coach ever. They have to make it look like they are at least trying to keep him. This would be like us if LSU wanted Polk to replace Bertman back in the day and Polk wanted to leave because of the scholarship situation being better there at the time with TOPS. We would absolutely look like we would be doing everything we could to keep our best coach in school history. Even if we wouldn't or couldn't.

Ehh maybe. I mean TCU people were saying that exact thing with Schloss. I think UVA is going to put a very attractive package together for O’Conner. There is also the A&M piece to this thing. If/When they move off Early, O’Conner will be a priority candidate there as well so his agent will probably advise him to see what happens with that situation as well.

[basedog]

Ehh maybe. I mean TCU people were saying that exact thing with Schloss. I think UVA is going to put a very attractive package together for O’Conner. There is also the A&M piece to this thing. If/When they move off Early, O’Conner will be a priority candidate there as well so his agent will probably advise him to see what happens with that situation as well.

I am betting TAM doesn't fire their coach.

[basedog]

I think the deadline is July for baseball as far as entering the portal. Even if they changed it or I'm just wrong the NCAA has been lenient towards players transferring out when there is a head coaching change.

And as far as summer ball that cake is baked for the players no matter what.

I'm sure players are hearing offers from other baseball programs regardless of the time frame for NIL.

[Coursesuper]

I'm sure players are hearing offers from other baseball programs regardless of the time frame for NIL.

They have been for quite some time.

[Todd4State]

I am betting TAM doesn't fire their coach.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/i-would-be-very-suprised-hc-michael-earleys-future-with-texas-a-m-is-in-peril/ar-AA1FuKuy?ocid=BingNewsSerp

And I know it's Kendall Rogers but I believe he went to A&M. So he has a little more invested interest than usual.

[Quaoarsking]

A&M really wanted O'Connor last year but one (or both?) sides blinked at the last minute. If they know he's looking to move this year and talking to us, of course they're going to try to get him out from under us.

That's why we need to move quickly and announce it ASAP.

[BigDawg81]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/i-would-be-very-suprised-hc-michael-earleys-future-with-texas-a-m-is-in-peril/ar-AA1FuKuy?ocid=BingNewsSerp

And I know it's Kendall Rogers but I believe he went to A&M. So he has a little more invested interest than usual.

Apparently, the A&M administration and booster are split about firing their coach and that’s coming from their 247. They are more concerned about the Texas A&M and ND football game more than baseball.

[StarkVegasSteve]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/other/i-would-be-very-suprised-hc-michael-earleys-future-with-texas-a-m-is-in-peril/ar-AA1FuKuy?ocid=BingNewsSerp

And I know it's Kendall Rogers but I believe he went to A&M. So he has a little more invested interest than usual.

Kendall has a ton of connections and I would imagine he is getting his news from Liucci so it is as good as getting it from the decision makers at A&M

[Todd4State]

Ehh maybe. I mean TCU people were saying that exact thing with Schloss. I think UVA is going to put a very attractive package together for O’Conner. There is also the A&M piece to this thing. If/When they move off Early, O’Conner will be a priority candidate there as well so his agent will probably advise him to see what happens with that situation as well.

Was Schlossnagle looking around before we fired Cann? I can't remember. O'Connor it's distinctly different IMO because I think he was going to take the A&M job and they went with Earley and Virginia didn't come through with what they promised.

[Todd4State]

Kendall has a ton of connections and I would imagine he is getting his news from Liucci so it is as good as getting it from the decision makers at A&M

The rumors I've heard are they are going to fire him.
Mine aren't as good as far as sources go but I can't really remember anyone saying that Earley was coming back.

[Todd4State]

Apparently, the A&M administration and booster are split about firing their coach and that’s coming from their 247. They are more concerned about the Texas A&M and ND football game more than baseball.

I think we might have to worry more about South Carolina for O'Connor honestly. It's obvious that they are trying to find a reason to fire Manieri. I read that hit piece that their 247 put out and damn...

[StateDawg44]

The rumors I've heard are they are going to fire him.
Mine aren't as good as far as sources go but I can't really remember anyone saying that Earley was coming back.

Well, that ain?t good for our search. Our monetary commitment means nothing until A&M gets their guy if we are after any of the same coaches.

[Cooterpoot]

I think we might have to worry more about South Carolina for O'Connor honestly. It's obvious that they are trying to find a reason to fire Manieri. I read that hit piece that their 247 put out and damn...

Nah, his buyout is big and they put more into women's basketball. They don't worry me at all.
A&M has no reason to wait to fire their coach. If it's going to happen, it's by tomorrow.

[StarkVegasSteve]

I think we might have to worry more about South Carolina for O'Connor honestly. It's obvious that they are trying to find a reason to fire Manieri. I read that hit piece that their 247 put out and damn...

Skylar Meade will be the hire there.

[StateDawg44]

Skylar Meade will be the hire there.

You mean no Lemon to SC?

[The Federalist Engineer]

You mean no Lemon to SC?

Wonder what happens in Mizzou?

Since I lived in St Louis, I know they don't give a damn. But the Mizzou coach gets St Louis metro, Kansas City metro, and Springfield-Branson as his turf. Plus you can benefit from the Wichita State implosion and snag Kansas. You can also offer SEC ball to the Chicago kids. I hope this giant never awakens. St Louis suburbs have many Madison Centrals ... Marquette, Parkway, and Lafayette. And they have multiple JPs with even richer dads like Chaminde, CBC, De Smet etc.

Dan Fitzgerald would be dangerous in CoMo. Quietly build a program with no pressure. In Mizzou, Lemons would just be fired again, no danger. He would take Cheese and Fox with him.

[StarkVegasSteve]

You mean no Lemon to SC?

They cannot go from one fired SEC coach to another. The time to grab Lemonis would have been last year or either wait out our situation this year.

They will need a sitting HC or an SEC assistant.

[Todd4State]

Well, that ain?t good for our search. Our monetary commitment means nothing until A&M gets their guy if we are after any of the same coaches.

The market is the market though. I don't think they're going to pay someone 3 million or whatever to just do it. Not in baseball anyway. And I'm not saying that we would pay that either for someone but I'm just saying that I don't think they're going to go way over market to get O'Connor. Rob Vaughn is sitting right there at Alabama and to me that seems like a better fit. Plus it would give them an edge on Justin Lebron if he enters the portal. And I'm not convinced that O'Connor would choose them over us anyway. Right now we're a much better situation.


Nah, his buyout is big and they put more into women's basketball. They don't worry me at all.
A&M has no reason to wait to fire their coach. If it's going to happen, it's by tomorrow.

That's why I think that hit piece was put out. They're trying to fire him for cause. Not following a doctor's Tommy John protocol and then that pitcher getting hurt after he was overworked is probably grounds for that alone without the other mountain of stuff in that article. And that article was essentially written by the people of South Carolina's version of Genespage. It wasn't by accident.


Skylar Meade will be the hire there.

I could see that. Or Elander. Meade would be better though.


Wonder what happens in Mizzou?

Since I lived in St Louis, I know they don't give a damn. But the Mizzou coach gets St Louis metro, Kansas City metro, and Springfield-Branson as his turf. Plus you can benefit from the Wichita State implosion and snag Kansas. You can also offer SEC ball to the Chicago kids. I hope this giant never awakens. St Louis suburbs have many Madison Centrals ... Marquette, Parkway, and Lafayette. And they have multiple JPs with even richer dads like Chaminde, CBC, De Smet etc.

Dan Fitzgerald would be dangerous in CoMo. Quietly build a program with no pressure. In Mizzou, Lemons would just be fired again, no danger. He would take Cheese and Fox with him.

They are in the same situation that Georgia has with much less commitment. They're right in between two MLB teams in the Cardinals and Royals and that's what they are competing against in state for baseball. They'll never ever compete against that. They are in a good recruiting area and there is no reason why they can't at least be competitive in the SEC and at least go to regionals. I think they need the right coach and Kerrick Johnson isn't the right guy. Fitzgerald would be great there because he can recruit and he knows the league and the area and the JUCO's. But it's a massive rebuild that is going to take years and honestly whoever their coach is there needs to get someone like Max Scherzer involved to start building some facilities and to get some things going there.

[StateDawg44]

They cannot go from one fired SEC coach to another. The time to grab Lemonis would have been last year or either wait out our situation this year.

They will need a sitting HC or an SEC assistant.

Yes I was kidding. I don?t think Lemo deserves the SC job.

[The Federalist Engineer]

Yes I was kidding. I don?t think Lemo deserves the SC job.

I hope he does get the USC job.

(1) takes MSU off the hook for buyout money
(2) he can hire Cheese, Parker, Goat, and Fox
(3) makes the MSU coach change free of charge
(4) destroys USC baseball for 4 to 6 years

[StateDawg44]

I hope he does get the USC job.

(1) takes MSU off the hook for buyout money
(2) he can hire Cheese, Parker, Goat, and Fox
(3) makes the MSU coach change free of charge
(4) destroys USC baseball for 4 to 6 years

Oh I'm all for them hiring him as well.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Talked to a few people last night and Steve basically confirmed the exact thing I was hearing, O'Conner is expected to stay at UVA.

So in the words of Sean Carter, On To The Next One.

[BigDawg81]

Talked to a few people last night and Steve basically confirmed the exact thing I was hearing, O'Conner is expected to stay at UVA.

So in the words of Sean Carter, On To The Next One.
My gut has been telling me that it will probably be Fitzgerald ever since I heard his name and looked at his Wikipedia page. However, my gut wasn’t too friendly to me this morning so who knows.

[StarkVegasSteve]

My gut has been telling me that it will probably be Fitzgerald ever since I heard his name and looked at his Wikipedia page. However, my gut wasn’t too friendly to me this morning so who knows.

I still think it is going to be Erik Bakich. I also think Wasikowski smoke will heat up as the week moves on as well.

Fitzgerald is still politicking like hell to get the job. He's got people reaching out every day.

[The Federalist Engineer]

I still think it is going to be Erik Bakich. I also think Wasikowski smoke will heat up as the week moves on as well.

Fitzgerald is still politicking like hell to get the job. He's got people reaching out every day.

If Fitz takes out Van Horn and Vitello that's a good resume bullet point.

"Went threw Fayetteville and Knoxville, successfully navigated my club to Omaha."

[ScottH]

My money remains on Bakich

[Chuck3124]

My money remains on Bakich


I?m right there with you. I?ve been on this train since day one. Ever since I watched that Clemson/Florida super last year and saw the fire he?s got I said that day I want him in Starkville. He?s a perfect fit.

[StarkVegasSteve]

I?m right there with you. I?ve been on this train since day one. Ever since I watched that Clemson/Florida super last year and saw the fire he?s got I said that day I want him in Starkville. He?s a perfect fit.

Here's the thing with Bakich. He's Cannizarro. He's what we lost. And this is the chance to get that back. Albeit without the off the field issues and we probably won't have spiked shoulder pads this time around. But that swagger, fire, and bravado would be back. Also, the recruiting would be back.

[Chuck3124]

Here's the thing with Bakich. He's Cannizarro. He's what we lost. And this is the chance to get that back. Albeit without the off the field issues and we probably won't have spiked shoulder pads this time around. But that swagger, fire, and bravado would be back. Also, the recruiting would be back.

That?s perfectly fine by me haha. As long as we get that swagger, fire, and bravado back I?m cool with it. I also agree this is our chance to get back what we had in Cann without off field issues.

[StarkVegasSteve]

The market is the market though. I don't think they're going to pay someone 3 million or whatever to just do it. Not in baseball anyway. And I'm not saying that we would pay that either for someone but I'm just saying that I don't think they're going to go way over market to get O'Connor. Rob Vaughn is sitting right there at Alabama and to me that seems like a better fit. Plus it would give them an edge on Justin Lebron if he enters the portal. And I'm not convinced that O'Connor would choose them over us anyway. Right now we're a much better situation.



That's why I think that hit piece was put out. They're trying to fire him for cause. Not following a doctor's Tommy John protocol and then that pitcher getting hurt after he was overworked is probably grounds for that alone without the other mountain of stuff in that article. And that article was essentially written by the people of South Carolina's version of Genespage. It wasn't by accident.



I could see that. Or Elander. Meade would be better though.



They are in the same situation that Georgia has with much less commitment. They're right in between two MLB teams in the Cardinals and Royals and that's what they are competing against in state for baseball. They'll never ever compete against that. They are in a good recruiting area and there is no reason why they can't at least be competitive in the SEC and at least go to regionals. I think they need the right coach and Kerrick Johnson isn't the right guy. Fitzgerald would be great there because he can recruit and he knows the league and the area and the JUCO's. But it's a massive rebuild that is going to take years and honestly whoever their coach is there needs to get someone like Max Scherzer involved to start building some facilities and to get some things going there.


Here is Mizzou's problem. They had a chance to hire Vitello in 2016 when Jamison retired and they didn't do it. Now would Vitello still be there? Absolutely not. The guy would probably be at Texas or even LSU right now because Mizzou refuses to make baseball any type of priority. So what happened? Well they hired Steve Beiser who, although he wasn't terrible, never made it to the NCAAT. He was 188-155 in his tenure at Mizzou. Tennessee hires Vitello a year later and all he has done is go 329-128 in his tenure with 3 CWS appearances and a national championship. And btw, he wanted that Mizzou job.

[StateDawg44]

I?m right there with you. I?ve been on this train since day one. Ever since I watched that Clemson/Florida super last year and saw the fire he?s got I said that day I want him in Starkville. He?s a perfect fit.

I thought the same exact thing during that SR last year. They gave Florida all they could handle.

Had me wishing we had that guy in the dugout instead of what we stuck with for another year.

[Pancho]

I'm feeling like Bakich until someone credible says otherwise.

[StarkVegasSteve]

I'm feeling like Bakich until someone credible says otherwise.

There is just some intrigue around Bakich. And look, like him or not, Robertson has the best athletic dept sources and has been dodging the Bakich candidacy as much as possible. If he was not a candidate he would either come out and say he is not a candidate or have some smart ass response saying that Vitello is a candidate too technically.

It was also very interesting that SuperTalk added him to their hot board last week. They did not just get that out of thin air

[StateDawg44]

I?d be just as happy with Bakich as I would?ve BOC.

Two different coaches but Bakich seems like a fit.

[KB21]

There is just some intrigue around Bakich. And look, like him or not, Robertson has the best athletic dept sources and has been dodging the Bakich candidacy as much as possible. If he was not a candidate he would either come out and say he is not a candidate or have some smart ass response saying that Vitello is a candidate too technically.

It was also very interesting that SuperTalk added him to their hot board last week. They did not just get that out of thin air

I will say it again. If it is Bakich, it's the biggest stealth coaching hire that has ever been. Outside of Super Talk putting him on the hot board, there hasn't been a peep about him in the baseball media. He wasn't on Kendall Rogers's hot board. Baseball America came out with a 40 coaches to watch article discussing coaches who could be on the move, and he wasn't mentioned. The top 4 on BA's list were Brian O'Connor, Tom Walter, Dan Fitzgerald, and Chris Pollard.

[Coursesuper]

There is just some intrigue around Bakich. And look, like him or not, Robertson has the best athletic dept sources and has been dodging the Bakich candidacy as much as possible. If he was not a candidate he would either come out and say he is not a candidate or have some smart ass response saying that Vitello is a candidate too technically.

It was also very interesting that SuperTalk added him to their hot board last week. They did not just get that out of thin air

I would put very little sock in what Rosey knows at this point.

[basedog]

I would put very little sock in what Rosey knows at this point.

Exactly. SR has to get paid*

[StarkVegasSteve]

I would put very little sock in what Rosey knows at this point.

He's telling people what he's been told, and not telling people what he's being told not to tell. I'm not saying his reporting is 100% accurate, but his sourcing in the Bryan Building is a hell of a lot better than other writers on the beat. So if I have to guess, and it's only a half guess because it lines up with some stuff I have heard, we're keeping a candidate or two on the down low. Kendall Rodgers screwed us with the O'Conner stuff tbh.

[BigDawg81]

Haha. Rosie always has a smart remark when he is right. I called him out on that. Needless to say, he doesn?t like me very well. Haha

[StarkVegasSteve]

Haha. Rosie always has a smart remark when he is right. I called him out on that. Needless to say, he doesn?t like me very well. Haha

I always laugh a little at his "Now That It's Over" pieces. Stuff will have happened that he knew nothing about and he'll act like he knew that is exactly how it was going to go down. My favorite was the Lockhart stuff: "Well I talked to my sources down at Winona and they told me he never sent his papers to Ole Miss. So I knew hours before everyone that it wasn't settled." In reality he started checking into it the minute Jeff Lebby posted that tweet.

[BigDawg81]

I always laugh a little at his "Now That It's Over" pieces. Stuff will have happened that he knew nothing about and he'll act like he knew that is exactly how it was going to go down. My favorite was the Lockhart stuff: "Well I talked to my sources down at Winona and they told me he never sent his papers to Ole Miss. So I knew hours before everyone that it wasn't settled." In reality he started checking into it the minute Jeff Lebby posted that tweet.

My favorite Rosie moment :
At that time, I was listening to the Boneyard cause I did not know about T&L or any other podcast.
He was talking about recruit that was verbally committed to Ole Miss. Rosie didn’t like the recruit because “ He was a tweener yada yada. That recruit eventually committed to State and magically Rosie loved him. That’s when I knew that I was done with Rosebowl. Haha

[StarkVegasSteve]

My favorite Rosie moment :
At that time, I was listening to the Boneyard cause I did not know about T&L or any other podcast.
He was talking about recruit that was verbally committed to Ole Miss. Rosie didn’t like the recruit because “ He was a tweener yada yada. That recruit eventually committed to State and magically Rosie loved him. That’s when I knew that I was done with Rosebowl. Haha

He is the consumate homer beat writer and plays the part PERFECTLY.

Just a few gems over the years:

"Joe Moorhead is going to exceed Dan Mullen at Mississippi State. He really has the respect of the locker room already."
"You know I was always worried about Moorhead. He just never seemed to have the respect of the older players."

"Zach Arnett is who Mike Leach wanted and to me that tells me all I need to know about him."
"I always had my doubts about Zach Arnett and the hiring process. I just had a feeling it wasn't going to work out."

[Coursesuper]

He is the consumate homer beat writer and plays the part PERFECTLY.

Just a few gems over the years:

"Joe Moorhead is going to exceed Dan Mullen at Mississippi State. He really has the respect of the locker room already."
"You know I was always worried about Moorhead. He just never seemed to have the respect of the older players."

"Zach Arnett is who Mike Leach wanted and to me that tells me all I need to know about him."
"I always had my doubts about Zach Arnett and the hiring process. I just had a feeling it wasn't going to work out."

He is a homer that hates to get called out on his BS. Rosey gotta get paid.

[confucius say]

The Steve hate is over the top.
Is he perfect? No. Does he have an ego? Yes. Does he ramble too much? Yea.
But he is the only person on the beat that actually makes the effort to go cover games. The guy works harder than anybody on the beat and loves State. I can respect that.

[Santiago]

The Steve hate is over the top.
Is he perfect? No. Does he have an ego? Yes. Does he ramble too much? Yea.
But he is the only person on the beat that actually makes the effort to go cover games. The guy works harder than anybody on the beat and loves State. I can respect that.

yeah true.
I have noticed in this coach search the On3 guys just make jabs at Steve saying they cover the search differently and will only update when they have information....but Robbie is just listing what the D1 guys say.
At least Steve is putting some information out there, and most likely is helping the admin with smoke screens. That sort of makes it easier to read between the lines on his post.

[StarkVegasSteve]

The Steve hate is over the top.
Is he perfect? No. Does he have an ego? Yes. Does he ramble too much? Yea.
But he is the only person on the beat that actually makes the effort to go cover games. The guy works harder than anybody on the beat and loves State. I can respect that.

I'm not saying I don't respect the hell out of Steve. Because I do. I don't think he's missed a baseball game in 5 years and I doubt he's missed a football games in decades. It is just funny that his opinions sometimes change as often as the wind blows. He has accumulated great sources within the athletic dept and that comes with a lot of perks, but he also is going to get hate for that because he is seen as the University mouthpiece at times.

[StarkVegasSteve]

yeah true.
I have noticed in this coach search the On3 guys just make jabs at Steve saying they cover the search differently and will only update when they have information....but Robbie is just listing what the D1 guys say.
At least Steve is putting some information out there, and most likely is helping the admin with smoke screens. That sort of makes it easier to read between the lines on his post.

Robbie's sources are the D1 guys and what they put out there. He doesn't have many sources in the baseball world and the On3 network doesn't cover it so he doesn't have a national guy to fall back on.

Robertson is taking what is given to him and then he checks up on that so that should be applauded. Robbie can't do that because he doesn't have the rolodex of contacts that Steve has attracted over the years and Robbie does nothing to cultivate any type of relationship with other beat writers. Steve has the ability to play nice when he has to. Same as Hadad, although having the show with Cross and Borkey has helped him out in that regard.

[Santiago]

Robbie's sources are the D1 guys and what they put out there. He doesn't have many sources in the baseball world and the On3 network doesn't cover it so he doesn't have a national guy to fall back on.

Robertson is taking what is given to him and then he checks up on that so that should be applauded. Robbie can't do that because he doesn't have the rolodex of contacts that Steve has attracted over the years and Robbie does nothing to cultivate any type of relationship with other beat writers. Steve has the ability to play nice when he has to. Same as Hadad, although having the show with Cross and Borkey has helped him out in that regard.

I don't think the administration is giving Robbie anything either.
I get it, but Robbie IMO, should not give the smart A jabs about being different, when in reality he just does not have information.
Agree on Hadad. It seems to have been a benefit for him for sure.

[StarkVegasSteve]

I don't think the administration is giving Robbie anything either.
I get it, but Robbie IMO, should not give the smart A jabs about being different, when in reality he just does not have information.
Agree on Hadad. It seems to have been a benefit for him for sure.

Administration is going to give things to people that don't crap on them. That's how access works unless you're a national guy. Robbie isn't and so he doesn't have much on this because On3 doesn't have a national college baseball guy. There's also another facet of this that I don't think any of the beat writers truly know who's actually running the show on this search. This isn't the 2017 or 2019 search. The sourcing isn't going to be the same because Cohen isn't leaking names to Steve every other day to gauge interest

[BigDawg81]

Apparently, Kendall was on supertalk and saying it’s either Waz or Fitzgerald

[Turfdawg67]

There is just some intrigue around Bakich. And look, like him or not, Robertson has the best athletic dept sources and has been dodging the Bakich candidacy as much as possible. If he was not a candidate he would either come out and say he is not a candidate or have some smart ass response saying that Vitello is a candidate too technically.

It was also very interesting that SuperTalk added him to their hot board last week. They did not just get that out of thin air

Exactly. This over-the-top Rosebowl hate is silly. 80% is just because of how he looks, shocking... I know.

ETA... I would be beyond shocked if it was Bakich. Waz is probably our ceiling, so probably Fitz or Walter

[Coursesuper]

Apparently, Kendall was on supertalk and saying it’s either Waz or Fitzgerald

Thats probably pretty solid.

[Coursesuper]

Exactly. This over-the-top Rosebowl hate is silly. 80% is just because of how he looks, shocking... I know.

ETA... I would be beyond shocked if it was Bakich. Waz is probably our ceiling, so probably Fitz or Walter

Waz, Fitz are top tier coaches and Walter is way better than what we had.

[schddog72]

Exactly. This over-the-top Rosebowl hate is silly. 80% is just because of how he looks, shocking... I know.

ETA... I would be beyond shocked if it was Bakich. Waz is probably our ceiling, so probably Fitz or Walter

This may be true, and if so it is well-deserved. So why doesn't he take more pride in his appearance? I literally cringe anytime I read his name or see his pic as some kind of representation of MSU. Ok, I'm an old fart and was taught very early on how important first impressions are. "You only get one opportunity to make a first impression."

[DownwardDawg]

This may be true, and if so it is well-deserved. So why doesn't he take more pride in his appearance? I literally cringe anytime I read his name or see his pic as some kind of representation of MSU. Ok, I'm an old fart and was taught very early on how important first impressions are. "You only get one opportunity to make a first impression."

It's horrible

[BigDawg81]

This may be true, and if so it is well-deserved. So why doesn't he take more pride in his appearance? I literally cringe anytime I read his name or see his pic as some kind of representation of MSU. Ok, I'm an old fart and was taught very early on how important first impressions are. "You only get one opportunity to make a first impression."

Needs to take a bath and wash that nasty head. I don?t care for him but it?s not because how he looks. He is a hypocrite that can?t take the heat but can dish it when it?s convenient for him. A lot of times, he makes it about himself. I can see why Ole Miss fans doesn?t like him. If an Ole Miss beat writer turns us in and puts us on probation, I wouldn?t like him either.

[The Federalist Engineer]

Do the regional results play into what happens next?

(1) Parker-Goat winning into Omaha?
(2) Fitzgerald vs Arkansas and Tennessee
(3) Oregon playing into a Super at least.
(4) Bakcik seems proven regardless. Success and emotional deep run would hurt MSU.
(5) sounds like BOC is on the clock to agree or not.

[Turfdawg67]

This may be true, and if so it is well-deserved. So why doesn't he take more pride in his appearance? I literally cringe anytime I read his name or see his pic as some kind of representation of MSU. Ok, I'm an old fart and was taught very early on how important first impressions are. "You only get one opportunity to make a first impression."

Lolz... I'm gonna refrain from any more comments on this thread (or at least this topic) because I KNOW how most feel about people that are "different" from them. I'm close to 60 and have lived in MS, AL, GA and TN... believe me, not much has changed in all my years.

Not politics Scooba, but ban on... I don't post much anyway.

[Turfdawg67]

Needs to take a bath and wash that nasty head. I don?t care for him but it?s not because how he looks. He is a hypocrite that can?t take the heat but can dish it when it?s convenient for him. A lot of times, he makes it about himself. I can see why Ole Miss fans doesn?t like him. If an Ole Miss beat writer turns us in and puts us on probation, I wouldn?t like him either.

Needs to take a bath and wash that nasty head. I don?t care for him but it?s not because how he looks

17! Okay one more before the ban. THIS... my whole life. I would "lolz" but it's too 17'n sad.

[Cooterpoot]

I don't believe Bakich is a candidate
BOC is the guy until he says no

[basedog]

I don't believe Bakich is a candidate
BOC is the guy until he says no

I hope so.

[Cooterpoot]

I hope so.
Well, he may tell us no tomorrow but until he does, it's his. I love Was, so I'm good there. Fitz would be a risk and I just don't believe Walter because of the buyout still but whatever the talking heads say. Was is the one who hasn't been getting the talk, not Bakich.

[Coursesuper]

I hope so.

Bakich may very well be a candidate but I don?t believe O?Connor is. I think that our list consists of Waz, Fitz and Bakich. We will all know in 10 days to 2 weeks tops.

[JohnnyQuid]

I don't think the administration is giving Robbie anything either.
I get it, but Robbie IMO, should not give the smart A jabs about being different, when in reality he just does not have information.
Agree on Hadad. It seems to have been a benefit for him for sure.

I listen to t&l and i say this with peace and love but Robbie and hadad don't know **** all about baseball in general much less this coaching search.

[Pancho]

some of us know more than them and could do a radio show and sound more informed. it's quite silly

[KOdawg1]

some of us know more than them and could do a radio show and sound more informed. it's quite silly

Yeah no you couldn't

[Tater]

Needs to take a bath and wash that nasty head. I don?t care for him but it?s not because how he looks

17! Okay one more before the ban. THIS... my whole life. I would "lolz" but it's too 17'n sad.

On a coaching search thread on a board meant to talk sports, we've got 3 straight different posters talking about a non-athlete's hair. Me thinks the lady doth protest too much. I mean one of them even mentioned pride with their month right around the corner. Their subconscious is screaming at them.

But anyways. I love how much different information is being flung at the wall. Lots of coaches have got their agents angling for them to get a pay raise while the getting is good.

[DownwardDawg]

Yeah no you couldn't

I disagree. I've tried to listen a few times.

[KOdawg1]

I disagree. I've tried to listen a few times.

Cool.

[Cooterpoot]

Bakich may very well be a candidate but I don?t believe O?Connor is. I think that our list consists of Waz, Fitz and Bakich. We will all know in 10 days to 2 weeks tops.

Bakich isn't a candidate. These guys with massive buyouts are using us to get resources, he's not a real option right now. O'Connor could go either way and I won't be surprised by either but we can wait him out. Was is my guy. Fitz after them would be ok but a big risk.

[parabrave]

Next time we go apeshi% over potential head coaches how about posting their resume's and at least their past 5 year record. That way you and the other readers can look at them and ask do we really want this guy?

[Coursesuper]

Bakich isn't a candidate. These guys with massive buyouts are using us to get resources, he's not a real option right now. O'Connor could go either way and I won't be surprised by either but we can wait him out. Was is my guy. Fitz after them would be ok but a big risk.

Waz would be a homerun hire and Fitz would also be a fantastic hire.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Next time we go apeshi% over potential head coaches how about posting their resume's and at least their past 5 year record. That way you and the other readers can look at them and ask do we really want this guy?

I know it wasn't directed towards me, but here you go on the last 5 years for the 5 we seem to be looking at:

Brian O'Conner: 203-96
Erik Bakich: 193-98 (2 Michigan years plus 3 Clemson years)
Mark Wasikowski: 198-97
Dan Fitzgerald: 99-70(only been a D1 HC for 3 years)
Skip Johnson: 179-121

Basically, there's 3 grand slam hires. There's a really good hire that could turn into a grand slam hire. And Skip Johnson is a solid double into the gap.

[Cooterpoot]

Waz would be a homerun hire and Fitz would also be a fantastic hire.

Fitz is a BIG risk

[StarkVegasSteve]

Fitz is a BIG risk

ANY coach is a risk. This job is a pressure cooker where the expectations do not match the trophy case. You have to live this job 24/7/365. You have to be ok with a fanbase that is not going to just let you do your job. They want to take pictures and have autographs any time they see you in public. There's no privacy with this job. I have just as many reservations about Brian O'Conner, the supposed front runner, as I do any other candidate.

[BigDawg81]

Different tune this morning about O’Connor than yesterday. It went from likely to stay at Virginia to 50/50

[Coursesuper]

ANY coach is a risk. This job is a pressure cooker where the expectations do not match the trophy case. You have to live this job 24/7/365. You have to be ok with a fanbase that is not going to just let you do your job. They want to take pictures and have autographs any time they see you in public. There's no privacy with this job. I have just as many reservations about Brian O'Conner, the supposed front runner, as I do any other candidate.

This is the way it is. This job is a monster

[Quaoarsking]

Different tune this morning about O’Connor than yesterday. It went from likely to stay at Virginia to 50/50

Boom! Time to start measuring everyone's ring fingers!

[Coursesuper]

Different tune this morning about O’Connor than yesterday. It went from likely to stay at Virginia to 50/50

Rosey is inconsistent if he's anything.

[msstate7]

Boom! Time to start measuring everyone's ring fingers!

This would be a big time win

[StarkVegasSteve]

Rosey is inconsistent if he's anything.

I still think he stays at UVA, but you are right. If the reporting has been anything, it has been inconsistent. Just tells me that he is not really sure who is running the search

[parabrave]

I know it wasn't directed towards me, but here you go on the last 5 years for the 5 we seem to be looking at:

Brian O'Conner: 203-96
Erik Bakich: 193-98 (2 Michigan years plus 3 Clemson years)
Mark Wasikowski: 198-97
Dan Fitzgerald: 99-70(only been a D1 HC for 3 years)
Skip Johnson: 179-121

Basically, there's 3 grand slam hires. There's a really good hire that could turn into a grand slam hire. And Skip Johnson is a solid double into the gap.

Also forgot to add how many Regionals, SRs and trips to Omaha.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Also forgot to add how many Regionals, SRs and trips to Omaha.

O’Conner- 3 CWS, 1 Regional, 1 missed postseason
Bakich- 4 Regionals(5 now) and 1 Super
Wasikowski- 2 Regionals(3 now) and 2 Supers
Fitzgerald- Regional this year and 2 missed postseasons
Johnson- 1 CWS, 2 regionals(3 now), and 1 missed postseason.

[Coursesuper]

I still think he stays at UVA, but you are right. If the reporting has been anything, it has been inconsistent. Just tells me that he is not really sure who is running the search

He may know but he's not getting any information out of them.

[BigDawg81]

Either way, he has left himself a lot of wiggle room

[KOdawg1]

Either way, he has left himself a lot of wiggle room

Well, rest assured, he's always going to do that.

Steve has sources. No one can deny that. But he's been all over the place with this, which lets me know those running this aren't giving him everything. He was adamant Wasikowski wasn't contacted about the job "contrary to other reports" even though no one had reported that. All that was reported elsewhere on Waz was that he would have interest and should be considered a candidate. He took him off the hot board and 48 hours later, he's put him back on it and has backtracked a little on all of that.

He came out and said BOC was likely to stay at UVA. Now this morning he's saying that was premature and has backtracked on that too.

He's trying really hard to win a source-off that isn't even there. I get wanting to be right and more importantly, be the first to be right, but it's leading him to some inconsistencies that aren't helping his coverage on this.

[BigDawg81]

Absolutely, he still stands firm in Waz not being contacted by State officials but everyone else says otherwise.

[KOdawg1]

Absolutely, he still stands firm in Waz not being contacted by State officials but everyone else says otherwise.

No one has said otherwise. People have said Waz would be interested in the job and would be a candidate, but no one has said State has contacted him. Steve took that and has run with it in an effort to shoot down others' reporting, but he's arguing an argument no one is making.

[Coursesuper]

No one has said otherwise. People have said Waz would be interested in the job and would be a candidate, but no one has said State has contacted him. Steve took that and has run with it in an effort to shoot down others' reporting, but he's arguing an argument no one is making.

I can tell you right now that not one Mississippi State University Athletics admin official has contacted a single coach.

[basedog]

Seems Virginia has committed more funds to BOC.

[DownwardDawg]

I can tell you right now that not one Mississippi State University Athletics admin official has contacted a single coach.

That makes sense. That'll happen when we "know" who our guy is.

[Cooterpoot]

I can tell you right now that not one Mississippi State University Athletics admin official has contacted a single coach.

Well, their agents are all over it

[StateDawg44]

lolz... no one on here or their "sources" has a clue what is going on :D

[KOdawg1]

I can tell you right now that not one Mississippi State University Athletics admin official has contacted a single coach.

I'd be surprised if they were. Agents are the one being communicate with.

[StarkVegasSteve]

I'd be surprised if they were. Agents are the one being communicate with.

Agents and Coaches are communicating with the search firm and team we have set up to run this stuff. But he is correct that no Mississippi State athletic dept officials have communicated with people.

[KOdawg1]

But he is correct that no Mississippi State athletic dept officials have communicated with people.

I've never said otherwise...like I'm not arguing that.

[StarkVegasSteve]

I've never said otherwise...like I'm not arguing that.

Oh I was not disputing your point. I was just adding context to it.

[KOdawg1]

Oh I was not disputing your point. I was just adding context to it.

Gotcha 👍

[Coursesuper]

Well, their agents are all over it

I should have been more clear, or Agent.

[Political Hack]

lolz... no one on here or their "sources" has a clue what is going on :D

Which is how it should be when a big-3, big-time head coach search is taking place. I'm actually proud of our admin for how they've handled this so far. Dropping "nuggets" to appease the masses creates an unnecessary roller coaster effect that leaves half the fan base disappointed regardless of the outcome. Let's find our guy and get 100% behind them.

I really hope it's BOC, but he's not the only guy that can get the job done at State.

[Santiago]

Which is how it should be when a big-3, big-time head coach search is taking place. I'm actually proud of our admin for how they've handled this so far. Dropping "nuggets" to appease the masses creates an unnecessary roller coaster effect that leaves half the fan base disappointed regardless of the outcome. Let's find our guy and get 100% behind them.

I really hope it's BOC, but he's not the only guy that can get the job done at State.

No, I want the AD that goes on radio and brags before we have the hire nailed down ***

[Coursesuper]

No, I want the AD that goes on radio and brags before we have the hire nailed down ***

Thankfully that guy is gone.

[StateDawg44]

Which is how it should be when a big-3, big-time head coach search is taking place. I'm actually proud of our admin for how they've handled this so far. Dropping "nuggets" to appease the masses creates an unnecessary roller coaster effect that leaves half the fan base disappointed regardless of the outcome. Let's find our guy and get 100% behind them.

I really hope it's BOC, but he's not the only guy that can get the job done at State.

I agree. I wasn't complaining about it. Coaching searches are fun to me. Even if they don't involve MSU. It just sucks when they don't pan out when it is MSU or it's questionable hire which is far to common.

I was just laughing at all of the back and forth and the who said what. Which is to be expected in a coaching search.

[basedog]

More media chatter (not SR chatter either) about BOC, I hope it gets more steam, and he becomes our next HC. But maybe he has a really good agent who knows how to work the media. It seems kinda strange you don't hear him saying he has no interest in leaving. I do believe he is our top choice and we will know shortly if he is interested.

[Chuck3124]

More media chatter (not SR chatter either) about BOC, I hope it gets more steam, and he becomes our next HC. But maybe he has a really good agent who knows how to work the media. It seems kinda strange you don't hear him saying he has no interest in leaving. I do believe he is our top choice and we will know shortly if he is interested.


My only worry is that he?s doing this to strong arm UVA into giving him what he was promised last cycle

[basedog]

My only worry is that he?s doing this to strong arm UVA into giving him what he was promised last cycle

I think it's more of his agent working, I think Virgina gave in to some money, but I am not sure how much and if BOC said OK. If so, I would think an announcement would have been made. But smoke signals are up more than it was a few days ago when many were saying no way. NIL and portal have changed many coaches dreams.

[Cooterpoot]

I should have been more clear, or Agent.

You guys playing this stupid Symantec's game are ridiculously childish

[KB21]

I think it's more of his agent working, I think Virgina gave in to some money, but I am not sure how much and if BOC said OK. If so, I would think an announcement would have been made. But smoke signals are up more than it was a few days ago when many were saying no way. NIL and portal have changed many coaches dreams.

I don't think UVA can come close to offering him what we are offering him, so if he doesn't leave UVA, he just never was going to leave. To turn down both us and LSU in the past 4 years just means he's going to retire at UVA.

[basedog]

I don't think UVA can come close to offering him what we are offering him, so if he doesn't leave UVA, he just never was going to leave. To turn down both us and LSU in the past 4 years just means he's going to retire at UVA.

I think you are correct, we shall know soon.

[StarkVegasSteve]

I don't think UVA can come close to offering him what we are offering him, so if he doesn't leave UVA, he just never was going to leave. To turn down both us and LSU in the past 4 years just means he's going to retire at UVA.

If it was about money, he would have gone to LSU or A&M. It is about commitment to the program and delivering on what was promised. I just think he and UVA are at an impasse right now in regards to that. I also think him being promised additional scholarships only for those to be given to another Olympic sport has pissed him off to get him to this point. I think UVA is going to have to make a sound commitment to baseball to keep him at this juncture, which by the way they have PLENTY of money to do just that.

And I will say, if they give him that then he will stay at UVA. And if they punt on that and basically call his bluff, I believe he will be the next head baseball coach at Mississippi State.

[KB21]

If it was about money, he would have gone to LSU or A&M. It is about commitment to the program and delivering on what was promised. I just think he and UVA are at an impasse right now in regards to that. I also think him being promised additional scholarships only for those to be given to another Olympic sport has pissed him off to get him to this point. I think UVA is going to have to make a sound commitment to baseball to keep him at this juncture, which by the way they have PLENTY of money to do just that.

I think what we may have on the table for him is:
*A likely top 3 salary among all head coaches in college baseball
*The funding to field a top-notch coaching staff.
*Possible "pro style" player development department.
*One of the top baseball NILs in the country.
*Fully funded scholarships for baseball.
*A soon-to-be baseball only IPF once the football IPF gets built.

[Political Hack]

Very reputable source close to Virginia baseball thinks he may actually leave this year.

"There's definite smoke. No fire yet. He's looking around."

[StarkVegasSteve]

Very reputable source close to Virginia baseball thinks he may actually leave this year.

"There's definite smoke. No fire yet. He's looking around."

Someone needs to reply to him, “Well no shit Sherlock. He has been linked to Mississippi State for a month by most of the college baseball world.”

[BigDawg81]

Very reputable source close to Virginia baseball thinks he may actually leave this year.

"There's definite smoke. No fire yet. He's looking around."

Well, who is that?

[KB21]

Oh shit! It's happening!

[StarkVegasSteve]

Oh shit! It's happening!

I would hold off on popping the bottle of Veuve for a bit longer. Things are progressing but they are not done. The ball is in the gap and we are rounding second but there is still some things that need to be ironed out. There are also multiple candidates who want to bring Muscara, not just O’Conner.

[BigDawg81]

Oh shit! It's happening!

Yep. It’s not a done deal but it is getting close.

[KOdawg1]

We're on the verge of something historic.

[Cooterpoot]

17ing BIB!!

[KB21]

https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/10/2023/06/2048x1365-Oak-trees-SEO-GettyImages-90590330-b6bfe8b.jpg?quality=90&resize=940,627

[Mjoelner34]

17ing BIB!!

Baseball is Back?

[sandjunky]

Historic you say? Like 3 to 2 Auburn historic?

[bigbub50]

I just had a little blood rush to little bub.

[msudawglb]

You guys are silly. No one knows anything. I've seen too many times agents putting things out there for us to lap up.

[StateDawg44]

There are also multiple candidates who want to bring Muscara, not just O?Conner.

C'mon.... this is just too much.

[StarkVegasSteve]

C'mon.... this is just too much.

I am telling you that is why Rosebowl is being so coy and will not come out and just say O’Conner. He is giving himself room to walk it back. Heck Muscara is a top 3 pitching coach, any finalist will want him. That includes Bakich, Wasikowski, Pollard, or Fitzgerald.

[StateDawg44]

I am telling you that is why Rosebowl is being so coy and will not come out and just say O’Conner. He is giving himself room to walk it back. Heck Muscara is a top 3 pitching coach, any finalist will want him. That includes Bakich, Wasikowski, Pollard, or Fitzgerald.

Well yeah, I think most any coach would be happy with Muscara. I'm just saying, that would be too good to be true if we got any of our top 4-5 HC targets and Muscara. Much less our #1 plus Muscara.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Well yeah, I think most any coach would be happy with Muscara. I'm just saying, that would be too good to be true if we got any of our top 4-5 HC targets and Muscara. Much less our #1 plus Muscara.

Ahh. I misread you there. My bad on that one.

[gtowndawg]

Any chance he can coach defense - the football kind?

[Cowbell]

I can tell you right now that not one Mississippi State University Athletics admin official has contacted a single coach.

This is facts. Not many here but this is one.

[Cowbell]

These threads are dang good entertainment. I never considered myself one with "great" sources, but some of the takes on here make me realize that most sources aren't really sources. It's sources of sources of sources of sourches of sources. As accurate as Bert Stare but still more accurate than Rosie..

[Todd4State]

I would hold off on popping the bottle of Veuve for a bit longer. Things are progressing but they are not done. The ball is in the gap and we are rounding second but there is still some things that need to be ironed out. There are also multiple candidates who want to bring Muscara, not just O’Conner.

Let's just hope Cheese isn't the third base coach .**

[Thick]

Let's just hope Cheese isn't the third base coach .**

Yes sir Todd!

[State82]

Let's just hope Cheese isn't the third base coach .**

Boom! Nice.

[KOdawg1]

Dave Murray accidentally posted an article saying we hired BOC and quickly deleted it.

[Quaoarsking]

Dave Murray accidentally posted an article saying we hired BOC and quickly deleted it.

In my head I know he probably wrote one for all of the candidates so that he can publish something as soon as it's official ... but in my heart I want to believe something is imminent.

[BigDawg81]

He has it ready to go when they get the go ahead.

[Cooterpoot]

Baseball is Back?

Book it Bitches!

[Coursesuper]

Dave Murray accidentally posted an article saying we hired BOC and quickly deleted it.

What a 17ing clown show they are. Just completely incompetent in every way possible.

[Medic601]

Looks like Robbie Faulk is claiming to have some more ?inside info? on the search behind his pay wall which I?m not paying for but yah?.

[Cowbell]

Looks like Robbie Faulk is claiming to have some more ?inside info? on the search behind his pay wall which I?m not paying for but yah?.

Robbie's new info is that he read ED and sources of sources of sources say....

[Cowbell]

All these reporters are throwing out smoke because they got nothing and they have to appear to be relevant as they know the search has ramped up. It's all for clicks

[Coursesuper]

All these reporters are throwing out smoke because they got nothing and they have to appear to be relevant as they know the search has ramped up. It's all for clicks

What it does is rile up the natives and if the thing blows up or he?s not the guy then all these guys will blame the AD and the new guy starts out behind the eight ball. What a moron, this is one reason we are never on the same page as a fan base. The Confederates don?t have these issues. The fan media does more damage than good.

[KOdawg1]

Looks like Robbie Faulk is claiming to have some more ?inside info? on the search behind his pay wall which I?m not paying for but yah?.

It's an encouraging update...

[Cowbell]

What it does is rile up the natives and if the thing blows up or he?s not the guy then all these guys will blame the AD and the new guy starts out behind the eight ball. What a moron, this is one reason we are never on the same page as a fan base. The Confederates don?t have these issues. The fan media does more damage than good.

Yep and Robbie will be the first one to call out any bad play by our baseball team.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Looks like Robbie Faulk is claiming to have some more ?inside info? on the search behind his pay wall which I?m not paying for but yah?.

He actually tempered expectations a bit. I thought he did a good job explaining that things were positive but nowhere near finished.