We made history with our baseball hire

[Coach34]

thanks to Virginia basically deciding they no longer cared to be a Top 15 program in college baseball- which I dont understand considering they will never be relevant in football either. But I'll take it gladly

BOC is now the 1st baseball coach in the history of college baseball with a Natty on his resume' to leave his current job and go to another P5 school.

2 others left a smaller schools for bigger ones- Garrido for Fullerton to Texas and Lopez left Pepperdine for Fla- but no P5 coach with a Natty ever left that school for another P5 before

[MStateDawg]

Garrido for Fullerton to Texas

He also left Fullerton for Illinois.

2 titles at Fullerton, leaves for Illinois.
Returns to Fullerton, gets another title and a runner up.
Leaves Fullerton (again) for Texas, gets 2 titles and 2 runner ups.

[Quaoarsking]

You also have George Horton leaving Fullerton for Oregon, but I think C34 is correct that no power conference to power conference move has been made other than O'Connor.

[Tough Dawg]

This guy is saying Virginia is the reason he came to MSU......Are you mad because you no longer have any close resources inside MSU Athletics?

[StarkVegasSteve]

This guy is saying Virginia is the reason he came to MSU......Are you mad because you no longer have any close resources inside MSU Athletics?

I mean UVA is a big part of it. Every report has basically mirrored that UVA had promised things that they didn't fulfill the promise on. They forced his hand in a way. They cracked the door and we kicked it in.

[Coursesuper]

This guy is saying Virginia is the reason he came to MSU......Are you mad because you no longer have any close resources inside MSU Athletics?

He’s not wrong. Every factor come into play and they are not putting out to keep up. We made a decision to step up that ties together with that.

[Coach34]

.Are you mad because you no longer have any close resources inside MSU Athletics?

Literally nobody that I know or get info from was fired or has left the program.

[confucius say]

Virginia came back and offered him more than enough to stay top 15.

The but for reason he is here now is not Virginia. It's because we made a multi million dollar annual commitment to, among other things, personnel on every level.

The fact that we are the only team to do what the OP says is evidence of the fact that our actions, not Virginia's, are the primary reason Oak is here.

[Commercecomet24]

Virginia came back and offered him more than enough to stay top 15.

The but for reason he is here now is not Virginia. It's because we made a multi million dollar annual commitment to, among other things, personnel on every level.

The fact that we are the only team to do what the OP says is evidence of the fact that our actions, not Virginia's, are the primary reason Oak is here.

This is it right here. O'Connor pretty much has a blank check.

[Coach34]

Virginia came back and offered him more than enough to stay top 15.

The but for reason he is here now is not Virginia. It's because we made a multi million dollar annual commitment to, among other things, personnel on every level.

The fact that we are the only team to do what the OP says is evidence of the fact that our actions, not Virginia's, are the primary reason Oak is here.

Not true. They refused to even to fully fund scholarships for Pete sake. They didn’t step up- we 100% did. It’s our gain. Let’s roll

[basedog]

I can’t wait to see what our future will be in coming years. To me it was pretty obvious with what the Dude is, our fan support and of course our tradition was a no brainer. I think many are surprised and this just show things can get done. Glad we have an AD who cares and has a vision and plan that doesn’t look like past AD’s who had no vision outside of MSU.

[confucius say]

Not true. They refused to even to fully fund scholarships for Pete sake. They didn’t step up- we 100% did. It’s our gain. Let’s roll

They came back at the 11th hour and gave him what he originally said he would need. Too little too late, and still didn't match our total package.
You're right though that we stepped up. Which is my whole point. Our commitment was the but for cause, not Virginia's lack of commitment.

[PGHBulldogBG]

It sounds like UVA?s AD and lack of NIL funding for baseball was the final decision here. Usually if a coach stays that long at a school there are issues internally

[Coach34]

They came back at the 11th hour and gave him what he originally said he would need. Too little too late, and still didn't match our total package.
You're right though that we stepped up. Which is my whole point. Our commitment was the but for cause, not Virginia's lack of commitment.

Thats BS and we all know it. He didnt get what he asked for and they wouldnt fully fund schollys like the SEC is doing. He gave them multiple chances. They refused and its our gain. If they had had agreed to 34 scholarships- he's still be Va's Coach.

We stepped up and made our job damn hard to refuse. And he jumped. Yay us. We did it right and now let's hope it pays off

[DownwardDawg]

This thread sums up our fanbase mentality in a nutshell. It's a perfect picture.

[BeardoMSU]

This thread sums up our fanbase mentality in a nutshell. It's a perfect picture.

Rather than just being happy and pumped for the future...choosing instead to find narcissistic ways of turning every nuance into a stupid pissing contest to fellate ones ego?

Yeah....definitely sounds like a portion of our fan base....ONE portion especially.**

[Todd4State]

Virginia came back and offered him more than enough to stay top 15.

The but for reason he is here now is not Virginia. It's because we made a multi million dollar annual commitment to, among other things, personnel on every level.

The fact that we are the only team to do what the OP says is evidence of the fact that our actions, not Virginia's, are the primary reason Oak is here.

That and the fact that Virginia had promised him things and didn't deliver before- so he probably rightfully wondered if they were going to do that again.

[Todd4State]

I can’t wait to see what our future will be in coming years. To me it was pretty obvious with what the Dude is, our fan support and of course our tradition was a no brainer. I think many are surprised and this just show things can get done. Glad we have an AD who cares and has a vision and plan that doesn’t look like past AD’s who had no vision outside of MSU.

I think we have a lot of fans that live in a what I call "the Maroon bubble" that don't really realize what we have in baseball and just assume that other schools have the same stuff just with less attendance.

For example- go to a baseball game at Tennessee or Georgia. It's not the same AT ALL. And when Vitello and Johnson leave those programs aren't going to hire a guy like Brian O'Connor and could easily make a risky hire that leaves them in the abyss of college baseball for a decade.

[Hot Rock]

Literally nobody that I know or get info from was fired or has left the program.

Sometimes people just hate. They get these things in their head or don't like someone and think they are true with very little info.

Nothing you said was wrong. More well funded programs tried to hire him away including LSU and A&M among others. He would not have come here if not for the failing of VA to support the program. Now, he did choose State. Convincing him this place was the place for him was no small task. KUDOs to our baseball sponsors, fans and Selmon for making it happen. I don't know the donors who keep baseball funded at a higher level but those guys are who are making this happen, them and the fans showing up. Zelmon had to present in a professional way and show the vision of the future and he did that very well but he had something worth representing.

[Coach34]

They came back at the 11th hour and gave him what he originally said he would need. Too little too late, and still didn't match our total package.
You're right though that we stepped up. Which is my whole point. Our commitment was the but for cause, not Virginia's lack of commitment.

They did not and why I posted a couple of days ago that they offered birdseed. Notice BOC has said nothing about being thankful about his time at Va or thanked anybody at Va.

He's pissed they didnt meet his demands and he had to leave. Which is great for us- he is motivated to show them what they lost

[basedog]

He had reached his peak at Virginia, when I read what he said "he looked forward to new challenges" which translate to motivation. Yes, Virginia lied to him, and we have way more to offer regarding baseball. I have said this many times, you got to get the right Coach for any sport to succeed first. Our biggest failure over the years with some dumb hires.

[Hot Rock]

He had reached his peak at Virginia, when I read what he said "he looked forward to new challenges" which translate to motivation. Yes, Virginia lied to him, and we have way more to offer regarding baseball. I have said this many times, you got to get the right Coach for any sport to succeed first. Our biggest failure over the years with some dumb hires.

It's hard for me to agree these hires were dumb. The worst one was Arnett of late and even that one had a lot that went into that decision. Not having an AD was a big problem with no time to get one to make the hire. Once Leach passed, this program was going to go through some stuff. His recruiting worked for him but not much of anyone else. If I thought that, surely I am not the only one and whoever followed Leach was going to have an issue with talent that worked for them. The Leach hire was a good one that ended far too soon due to his health. I think he knew something was not right even he wasn't exactly sure what it was and may have been thinking of shutting it down anyway but he was still young enough that anyone hiring him would not have known about it when the hire was made.

The others? Well, limited budgets and facilities coaches just don't want to be at the poorest SEC school with the lowest budget. What can I say, all decisions aren't dumb, they are just the best they could do given limited knowledge and resources that had available to them to do the hire. Keep in mind, even teams with tons of $$$ hire coaches that everyone thinks will be great and they fall flat.

[Coursesuper]

It's hard for me to agree these hires were dumb. The worst one was Arnett of late and even that one had a lot that went into that decision. Not having an AD was a big problem with no time to get one to make the hire. Once Leach passed, this program was going to go through some stuff. His recruiting worked for him but not much of anyone else. If I thought that, surely I am not the only one and whoever followed Leach was going to have an issue with talent that worked for them. The Leach hire was a good one that ended far too soon due to his health. I think he knew something was not right even he wasn't exactly sure what it was and may have been thinking of shutting it down anyway but he was still young enough that anyone hiring him would not have known about it when the hire was made.

The others? Well, limited budgets and facilities coaches just don't want to be at the poorest SEC school with the lowest budget. What can I say, all decisions aren't dumb, they are just the best they could do given limited knowledge and resources that had available to them to do the hire. Keep in mind, even teams with tons of $$$ hire coaches that everyone thinks will be great and they fall flat.

The hires you are talking about had nothing to do with why many people distance themselves from giving to the athletic department. The dumb hire was made for the head chair in that department and it hurt.

[State82]

It's hard for me to agree these hires were dumb.

Although a few years back, the Rick Ray hire was definitely dumb.

[DownwardDawg]

Although a few years back, the Rick Ray hire was definitely dumb.

Rick Ray, Croom, Arnett, Cohen as AD......All very dumb lazy ass hires.

[basedog]

Rick Ray, Croom, Arnett, Cohen as AD......All very dumb lazy ass hires.

Big time!

[PGHBulldogBG]

Rick Ray, Croom, Arnett, Cohen as AD......All very dumb lazy ass hires.

Moorhead goes in there too. All Cohen had to do was ask anyone semi familiar with Penn State football

[Turfdawg67]

Rick Ray, Croom, Arnett, Cohen as AD......All very dumb lazy ass hires.

Croom was hired to keep us out of the NCAA doghouse after Jackie.


Moorhead goes in there too. All Cohen had to do was ask anyone semi familiar with Penn State football

Moorhead was a bad hire, but not dumb or lazy. He was considered one of the top OC in the country and the hire was praised all over the sports world.

[EdwardDrayton]

The hires you are talking about had nothing to do with why many people distance themselves from giving to the athletic department. The dumb hire was made for the head chair in that department and it hurt.

^^^^^^

[StarkVegasSteve]

Although a few years back, the Rick Ray hire was definitely dumb.

The Ray hire was the worst of them all. We had no Plan B if Plan A fell through