Henderson has earned the right to turn it down, if he doesn't want it

[Bodaski]

I don't know what else a person would have to do to earn the right to be offered the HC baseball position at MSU. There is no way we would be able to with stand the media onslaught if he wasn't offered the job. JC has been smart not offering the job to any one up to this point with the way this season has played out. The media has made this hiring process a circus, not John Cohen. He has given the requirements that he is looking for. It just so happens Gary Henderson is getting around to by adding the Omaha trip on his resume. I think JC and Miss State will look like a huge winner in all of this in the end. You really couldn't ask for a better situation for the program than what is playing out on national TV. I hope we have to continue postponing the hiring of a new baseball coach, why, because we are still battling in O-M-A-H-A.

[confucius say]

This thread should go well

[99jc]

I don't know what else a person would have to do to earn the right to be offered the HC baseball position at MSU. There is no way we would be able to with stand the media onslaught if he wasn't offered the job. JC has been smart not offering the job to any one up to this point with the way this season has played out. The media has made this hiring process a circus, not John Cohen. He has given the requirements that he is looking for. It just so happens Gary Henderson is getting around to by adding the Omaha trip on his resume. I think JC and Miss State will look like a huge winner in all of this in the end. You really couldn't ask for a better situation for the program than what is playing out on national TV. I hope we have to continue postponing the hiring of a new baseball coach, why, because we are still battling in O-M-A-H-A.

nm

[Jacksondevildog]

Prisoner of the moment. Cohen cannot let the team catching lightening in the bottle at the end of the year cloud his judgment on the hire. Remember, we were one pitch away in Tallahassee from the option not even being on the table. I think we have to get a few more ?No?s? before we offer Henderson. The exact thing happened with Polk in 2007. We got hot and made Omaha and extended Polk. He obviously needed to go before the Omaha run but we got caught in the moment and figured Polk would turn it around. The program was bottoming out and most of our fans refused to see it for what it was. That allowed Ole Miss to continue their climb in recruiting.

[confucius say]

This is not college football. Nationally, no one will care. Rick Cleveland and Kellenberger May would write smn negative, but no major traction.

Also, I'd rather get this hire right (even if that's Hindu) than look nice.

[Todd4State]

This is not college football. Nationally, no one will care. Rick Cleveland and Kellenberger May would write smn negative, but no major traction.

Also, I'd rather get this hire right (even if that's Hindu) than look nice.

Well said.

[Jacksondevildog]

The program is currently set up for an established guy to come in. Brand new facilities, back to back top 10 classes waiting in the pipeline, and a team that will be able to compete NEXT year. This won?t be a rebuild. They will have to take the keys to the Corvette and not flip the car in the ditch on Hwy 25.

[Todd4State]

Prisoner of the moment. Cohen cannot let the team catching lightening in the bottle at the end of the year cloud his judgment on the hire. Remember, we were one pitch away in Tallahassee from the option not even being on the table. I think we have to get a few more ?No?s? before we offer Henderson. The exact thing happened with Polk in 2007. We got hot and made Omaha and extended Polk. He obviously needed to go before the Omaha run but we got caught in the moment and figured Polk would turn it around. The program was bottoming out and most of our fans refused to see it for what it was. That allowed Ole Miss to continue their climb in recruiting.

We have a chance to take the next step and become a power. I don't want to make a prisoner of the moment move and then have it not work out and have to rebuild again because we didn't want a negative article by The Clarion-Ledger written about us.

[shoeless joe]

Hendo deserves way more credit than he's getting on here for what he's done with this team. He has made a lot of posters look dumb and quite a few of them are doubling down...very odd and somewhat funny to watch.

Then on the other side of the coin this does feel like a bill Stewart at West Virginia scenario. But I'll lean toward trusting Cohen in the end.

[Liverpooldawg]

Hendo deserves way more credit than he's getting on here for what he's done with this team. He has made a lot of posters look dumb and quite a few of them are doubling down...very odd and somewhat funny to watch.

Then on the other side of the coin this does feel like a bill Stewart at West Virginia scenario. But I'll lean toward trusting Cohen in the end.

The deal here is Henderson gets the blame for anything bad. Anything good happened in spite of him. It's asinine.

[Jacksondevildog]

Henderson has done a great job keeping the ship afloat. I don?t think anyone will disagree with that. With all due respect to him, MSU can do better than Henderson. Historically, MSU has done a poor job of extending a guy that was questionable because of one of year of success. Croom in 2007 was SEC coach of the year, but our offense was going nowhere fast and the defense won those games that year. He lasted one more year and was gone. (IF) Henderson had a bad year next year, and it was realized that he was not the correct hire, it could hurt our program for years to come. The SEC isn?t a baseball league to make a questionable hire in. Even at MSU.

[Todd4State]

Hendo deserves way more credit than he's getting on here for what he's done with this team. He has made a lot of posters look dumb and quite a few of them are doubling down...very odd and somewhat funny to watch.

Then on the other side of the coin this does feel like a bill Stewart at West Virginia scenario. But I'll lean toward trusting Cohen in the end.

I think he is getting enough credit from the people saying he doesn't get enough credit.

[Todd4State]

Henderson has done a great job keeping the ship afloat. I don?t think anyone will disagree with that. With all due respect to him, MSU can do better than Henderson. Historically, MSU has done a poor job of extending a guy that was questionable because of one of year of success. Croom in 2007 was SEC coach of the year, but our offense was going nowhere fast and the defense won those games that year. He lasted one more year and was gone. (IF) Henderson had a bad year next year, and it was realized that he was not the correct hire, it could hurt our program for years to come. The SEC isn?t a baseball league to make a questionable hire in. Even at MSU.

Exactly. And then what? We either fire him anyway and start over again or let him run the program in the ground for a few years while creating a lot of uncertainty and then end up being in worse shape.

[Jacksondevildog]

Exactly. And then what? We either fire him anyway and start over again or let him run the program in the ground for a few years while creating a lot of uncertainty and then end up being in worse shape.

Our fans would say, ?But he made Omaha in 2018. Give him time to turn it around?. Lather, rinse and repeat.

[MarketingBully]

Can we just enjoy the run and worry about this shit when the season is over?

[Jacksondevildog]

Can we just enjoy the run and worry about this shit when the season is over?

Sure, but discussing this doesn’t hurt our teams focus in Omaha. My focus on my recliner doesn’t hurt or help our two strike approach at the plate either.

[confucius say]

Sure, but discussing this doesn’t hurt our teams focus in Omaha. My focus on my recliner doesn’t hurt or help our two strike approach at the plate either.

True. But it is paramount that I take a slam each game day prior to first pitch. I'll keep doing my part

[sleepy dawg]

This is not college football. Nationally, no one will care. Rick Cleveland and Kellenberger May would write smn negative, but no major traction.

Also, I'd rather get this hire right (even if that's Hindu) than look nice.


Henderson has done a great job keeping the ship afloat. I don?t think anyone will disagree with that. With all due respect to him, MSU can do better than Henderson. Historically, MSU has done a poor job of extending a guy that was questionable because of one of year of success. Croom in 2007 was SEC coach of the year, but our offense was going nowhere fast and the defense won those games that year. He lasted one more year and was gone. (IF) Henderson had a bad year next year, and it was realized that he was not the correct hire, it could hurt our program for years to come. The SEC isn?t a baseball league to make a questionable hire in. Even at MSU.

As simple as these 2 posts are, they are 2 of the best I've seen on the subject. We are great team. Henderson as interim head coach is definitely part of that team and has played his role well this year. I will be forever grateful for his role on this very special team. I don't know exactly how much of a role he's played, but he's no doubt played a role in helping getting us to this point. However, there is no doubt that Henderson is not the best coach in the country. He's also not 2nd, or 3rd, etc. Exactly where he ranks is obviously unknown, but if we feel we can get one of those better than him, then we get one of those coaches better than him. Its not like we'd be firing the 5th best coach in the country to hire someone better. Henderson is an interim coach. At the end of the season that title goes away naturally and we're free to make whatever decision we want. That said, Henderson should absolutely be considered for the job, but nobody is owed anything.

[Jacksondevildog]

Piggy-backing on your post, it’s not out of the question that Gautreau is the best coach on staff and could be the best head coach of the two. Why not him? For the long term, he would be the better option. Why? Because MSU can do better. That simple.



As simple as these 2 posts are, they are 2 of the best I've seen on the subject. We are great team. Henderson as interim head coach is definitely part of that team and has played his role well this year. I will be forever grateful for his role on this very special team. I don't know exactly how much of a role he's played, but he's no doubt played a role in helping getting us to this point. However, there is no doubt that Henderson is not the best coach in the country. He's also not 2nd, or 3rd, etc. Exactly where he ranks is obviously unknown, but if we feel we can get one of those better than him, then we get one of those coaches better than him. Its not like we'd be firing the 5th best coach in the country to hire someone better. Henderson is an interim coach. At the end of the season that title goes away naturally and we're free to make whatever decision we want. That said, Henderson should absolutely be considered for the job, but nobody is owed anything.

[CadaverDawg]

No. You don't give a job to a guy as a reward....you hire a guy that gives us the best chance to win going forward. If the best we can get is Henderson, hire him. But it isn't, and he shouldn't get the job. If Cohen hires Gary, it's a sign that Cohen is more worried about how he'll look if he doesn't, than the future of our program.

That's my thoughts.

[bostondawg]

Would you be saying the same thing if MacNamee didn't manage to take our final strike of the season over the wall in Tallahassee?

[HoopsDawg]

we wouldn't get near the negative reaction that Byrne got from Polk and many message board posters when he passed on Raffo for Cohen. You have to look long term.

Henderson has done a very good job in a tough situation. That doesn't mean he should be our leader going forward. But I would rather table this conversation and continue to enjoy this run.

[shoeless joe]

Would you be saying the same thing if MacNamee didn't manage to take our final strike of the season over the wall in Tallahassee?

There are a lot of legit discussions to be had about Henderson and whether he should get the job...this one however makes no sense to me. Hell we could use that excuse about anything at any time in sports. we don't question the legitimacy of the 91 team and say, "hyuk hyuk...what if ol Burke ain't hit that homer n we'd lost?"

Is the braves win in 95 not legit since they only won on justice's homer. Maybe the 91 twins aren't legit since it only went 7 because of puckett's walk off on game 6. Hell of Cabrera hadn't found a hole in 92 the pirates woulda won the pennant...better take that one back as well. I mean shit we could do this all day.

Once again, there are legit questions that I have myself but when folks throw stuff like this out it lessens their opinion in my view. How bout this angle, it was henderson's leadership, giving the team an identity (as magnum put it), and his willingness to let gotro run the offense that gave the team the mental fortitude to fight til the very end and allowed them to orchestrate such a come back win. Problem is that don't mesh with what some have been trumpeting from the rooftops every chance they've had.

When some of y'all double down on what really is an emotional response to your previous assertions...which is in great contrast to what is occurring with this team...any and every absurd reasoning gets spewed out.

[Cooterpoot]

1. Gary does deserve credit for this season
2. He doesn?t deserve the full time job because of his post season run.
3. Very MS thing to do is hire him. See our past.
4. I can?t see him being the long term answer unless he wins it. That would change my mind.

[MarketingBully]

1. Gary does deserve credit for this season
2. He doesn?t deserve the full time job because of his post season run.
3. Very MS thing to do is hire him. See our past.
4. I can?t see him being the long term answer unless he wins it. That would change my mind.

I agree. If he wins the natty, I’d consider it then. If not, let’s hire the best coach for the job.

[HoopsDawg]

I agree. If he wins the natty, I’d consider it then. If not, let’s hire the best coach for the job.

I really don't get it. Why does winning the national championship change your opinion. Miami made that mistake with Larry Coker. If we go with Henderson, that's fine, but it shouldn't be based on the next week of play.

[bostondawg]

There are a lot of legit discussions to be had about Henderson and whether he should get the job...this one however makes no sense to me. Hell we could use that excuse about anything at any time in sports. we don't question the legitimacy of the 91 team and say, "hyuk hyuk...what if ol Burke ain't hit that homer n we'd lost?"

Is the braves win in 95 not legit since they only won on justice's homer. Maybe the 91 twins aren't legit since it only went 7 because of puckett's walk off on game 6. Hell of Cabrera hadn't found a hole in 92 the pirates woulda won the pennant...better take that one back as well. I mean shit we could do this all day.

Once again, there are legit questions that I have myself but when folks throw stuff like this out it lessens their opinion in my view. How bout this angle, it was henderson's leadership, giving the team an identity (as magnum put it), and his willingness to let gotro run the offense that gave the team the mental fortitude to fight til the very end and allowed them to orchestrate such a come back win. Problem is that don't mesh with what some have been trumpeting from the rooftops every chance they've had.

When some of y'all double down on what really is an emotional response to your previous assertions...which is in great contrast to what is occurring with this team...any and every absurd reasoning gets spewed out.

I'm not questioning the legitimacy of a team. We're talking specifically about an interim coach and if they deserve the full time job or not. I'm simply offering a not-so-crazy alternate reality in which no one would probably believe Henderson deserves the job.

[MarketingBully]

I really don't get it. Why does winning the national championship change your opinion. Miami made that mistake with Larry Coker. If we go with Henderson, that's fine, but it shouldn't be based on the next week of play.

If we win a national championship, my patience with the program would change tremendously. We would have a national championship. Although I think he would be more Steve Alford then Larry Coker. Henderson is a good recruiter and average coach. As long as the staff would be kept together and a bad ass pitching coach was hired, I’d let Henderson stick around four years in exchange for a natty this year. A natty changes things with our program in every way.

[Cooterpoot]

I really don't get it. Why does winning the national championship change your opinion. Miami made that mistake with Larry Coker. If we go with Henderson, that's fine, but it shouldn't be based on the next week of play.

Because your hands are tied from a reputation standpoint and he’s a unicorn. He would have won the first natty in any major sport at State.

[BHildreth3]

If we win it all then you spend a few minutes considering Hendo. If we don?t then Hendo is not part of the equation. Period.

[shoeless joe]

I'm not questioning the legitimacy of a team. We're talking specifically about an interim coach and if they deserve the full time job or not. I'm simply offering a not-so-crazy alternate reality in which no one would probably believe Henderson deserves the job.

Fair enough...and I agree that the difference between 1 and 0 trips to Omaha for a given coach isn't that great, but that small difference is a major qualifier for a lot of folks. I'm not saying that's a good thing but Henderson is checking a lot of boxes. But again, I keep thinkin about bill Stewart in an almost identical situation and how that didn't work out in favor of WV

[Todd4State]

we wouldn't get near the negative reaction that Byrne got from Polk and many message board posters when he passed on Raffo for Cohen. You have to look long term.

Henderson has done a very good job in a tough situation. That doesn't mean he should be our leader going forward. But I would rather table this conversation and continue to enjoy this run.

I think the problem at that time was you not only had the Polk and Raffo stuff but you also had Cohen people, you had people that wanted Steve Smith, you had Brian Shoop people....just a lot of different factions.

Polk is the ultimate "clinging to a coach" situation. We have so many fans that only really watch MSU baseball that they thought that Polk's way was THE ONLY way to play the game. I think we had a lot of fans that tried to make Cohen like Polk- complaining about cussing in the dugout and all of that crap. You had Polk ripping Cohen behind his back too. It was just a really rough time. I honestly don't know how Cohen turned it around other than just sheer will and stubbornness.

[Todd4State]

Fair enough...and I agree that the difference between 1 and 0 trips to Omaha for a given coach isn't that great, but that small difference is a major qualifier for a lot of folks. I'm not saying that's a good thing but Henderson is checking a lot of boxes. But again, I keep thinkin about bill Stewart in an almost identical situation and how that didn't work out in favor of WV

Well, if Cohen feels like that's what the situation would be he shouldn't hire Henderson. I think a lot of our fans have created this scenario in their heads where if we win a National Championship WE HAVE TO hire Henderson and that's not true. Will the media question it? Maybe. But if they did it would be pretty short lived. To me it's not worth having to go through a period where we don't reach our full potential so that we won't get bad press. We haven't promised anything to anybody.

If we hire Gautreau or the guy from Purdue or whoever and the media questions it- we need bash the hell out of them as fans on social media. They don't have our best interests at heart anyway so who gives a **** what they say? Killaburger is in with Ole Miss and Cleveland is in tight with USM and they want us to make a crappy hire so that they can go back to their glory days of the 2000's when our program was soft.

[shoeless joe]

Well, if Cohen feels like that's what the situation would be he shouldn't hire Henderson. I think a lot of our fans have created this scenario in their heads where if we win a National Championship WE HAVE TO hire Henderson and that's not true. Will the media question it? Maybe. But if they did it would be pretty short lived. To me it's not worth having to go through a period where we don't reach our full potential so that we won't get bad press. We haven't promised anything to anybody.

If we hire Gautreau or the guy from Purdue or whoever and the media questions it- we need bash the hell out of them as fans on social media. They don't have our best interests at heart anyway so who gives a **** what they say? Killaburger is in with Ole Miss and Cleveland is in tight with USM and they want us to make a crappy hire so that they can go back to their glory days of the 2000's when our program was soft.

My issue is, in baseball all you can ask is to be in position for a championship. Henderson has shown he can do that. From here on out it's really just dependent on good pitching, timely hitting, and catching some breaks...in other words, that's baseball stuff. So if we want a guy to come in and compete for championships it'd be hard to argue against Hendo. The question arises as to whether he can do it consistently. I honestly believe if we hire him we'll be really good for another 2-3 years. But what happens after that? Can he build the type of program we want. I don't know...but are we certain some other guy that's not a shloss, McDonnell, etc would do better over the short term? Is competing at a high level over the short term worth a back slide in the long term? Are we sure we'd back slide? Does Hendo want the job? How long does he want to coach?

Cohen knows the answers to most of those and has a good idea on the others. Therefore I'll defer to him...

[preachermatt83]

Prisoner of the moment. Cohen cannot let the team catching lightening in the bottle at the end of the year cloud his judgment on the hire. Remember, we were one pitch away in Tallahassee from the option not even being on the table. I think we have to get a few more ?No?s? before we offer Henderson. The exact thing happened with Polk in 2007. We got hot and made Omaha and extended Polk. He obviously needed to go before the Omaha run but we got caught in the moment and figured Polk would turn it around. The program was bottoming out and most of our fans refused to see it for what it was. That allowed Ole Miss to continue their climb in recruiting.

+1

[preachermatt83]

No. You don't give a job to a guy as a reward....you hire a guy that gives us the best chance to win going forward. If the best we can get is Henderson, hire him. But it isn't, and he shouldn't get the job. If Cohen hires Gary, it's a sign that Cohen is more worried about how he'll look if he doesn't, than the future of our program.

That's my thoughts.
Yup. Great post

[preachermatt83]

1. Gary does deserve credit for this season
2. He doesn?t deserve the full time job because of his post season run.
3. Very MS thing to do is hire him. See our past.
4. I can?t see him being the long term answer unless he wins it. That would change my mind.


I agree. If he wins the natty, I’d consider it then. If not, let’s hire the best coach for the job.

Agree. I might change my mind if he wins it all. Still prob won’t but that’s the only thing that could make me change my mind. It would actually prob make me more ready to hire GoTro as HC.

[preachermatt83]

If we win it all then you spend a few minutes considering Hendo. If we don?t then Hendo is not part of the equation. Period.

Agreed

[preachermatt83]

Fair enough...and I agree that the difference between 1 and 0 trips to Omaha for a given coach isn't that great, but that small difference is a major qualifier for a lot of folks. I'm not saying that's a good thing but Henderson is checking a lot of boxes. But again, I keep thinkin about bill Stewart in an almost identical situation and how that didn't work out in favor of WV

Good comparison... other than Dabo who has been untra successful after being promoted from interim to HC?

[preachermatt83]

Well, if Cohen feels like that's what the situation would be he shouldn't hire Henderson. I think a lot of our fans have created this scenario in their heads where if we win a National Championship WE HAVE TO hire Henderson and that's not true. Will the media question it? Maybe. But if they did it would be pretty short lived. To me it's not worth having to go through a period where we don't reach our full potential so that we won't get bad press. We haven't promised anything to anybody.

If we hire Gautreau or the guy from Purdue or whoever and the media questions it- we need bash the hell out of them as fans on social media. They don't have our best interests at heart anyway so who gives a **** what they say? Killaburger is in with Ole Miss and Cleveland is in tight with USM and they want us to make a crappy hire so that they can go back to their glory days of the 2000's when our program was soft.

Serious question bc I honestly don’t have a clue abt him but what has Purdue’s coach done worth mentioning?

[preachermatt83]

I think the problem at that time was you not only had the Polk and Raffo stuff but you also had Cohen people, you had people that wanted Steve Smith, you had Brian Shoop people....just a lot of different factions.

Polk is the ultimate "clinging to a coach" situation. We have so many fans that only really watch MSU baseball that they thought that Polk's way was THE ONLY way to play the game. I think we had a lot of fans that tried to make Cohen like Polk- complaining about cussing in the dugout and all of that crap. You had Polk ripping Cohen behind his back too. It was just a really rough time. I honestly don't know how Cohen turned it around other than just sheer will and stubbornness.

What the story on this?

[Really Clark?]

Good comparison... other than Dabo who has been untra successful after being promoted from interim to HC?

Phil Fulmer at Tenn in college football.

[BulldogBear]

I agree. If he wins the natty, I?d consider it then. If not, let?s hire the best coach for the job.Exactly, strong emphasis on the word consider.


I really don't get it. Why does winning the national championship change your opinion. Miami made that mistake with Larry Coker. If we go with Henderson, that's fine, but it shouldn't be based on the next week of play.
Thus season is awesome.... but it's also weird. Yeah, apparently Henderson was the right man to pull this off. But these are not normal circumstances. Even if we win it all there is no evidence to say he can get it done in a normal offseason and season where you recruit, weather the draft, develop players, hire assistants, not screw coeds or staff, stay employed as head coach, meddle, endure ED criticism, and get to CWS that way.

I wonder if there could be some handshake politics here if the university or baseball program is worried about image because of not hiring a guy that wins the CWS. You know the Ole Miss led media will be all over it. Perhaps he should be offered the job but be instructed to turn it down. I believe he should be taken care of with a nice office job with 6 figures and go out as a legend.

[Lord McBuckethead]

Would you be saying the same thing if MacNamee didn't manage to take our final strike of the season over the wall in Tallahassee?

Would Saban be the best if his teams got called for holding, or were not allowed to run out of bounds and back in?

[Jarius]

Phil Fulmer at Tenn in college football.

And neither of those had 8 years of previous head coaching experience proving they were going to suck long term. If Gary had never been a head coach before this year the job would already be his. No one wants a guy who has already proven he can?t get it done long term. He had a lifetime to turn that program around and went to 2 regionals.

[msstatelp1]

If Cohen hires Hendo, I'm gonna hope he turns out like Bill Belichick. Belichick's first HC job in Cleveland didn't end so good but NE gave him a second chance.

[Really Clark?]

And neither of those had 8 years of previous head coaching experience proving they were going to suck long term. If Gary had never been a head coach before this year the job would already be his. No one wants a guy who has already proven he can?t get it done long term. He had a lifetime to turn that program around and went to 2 regionals.

To play devils advocate, then NE should have never hired Belichick, USC shouldn?t have hired Pete Carroll, and the vast number of MLB manager retreads that didn?t have great success in their first gig is just too numerous to count. But Tony La Russa is one that coached the White Sox for several years, even won a COY award (sound familiar) and was the interim coach when he was first given the head gig, fired 2-3 years after his COY and hired immediately by the A?s. And look and Joe Torre’s career prior to the Yankees and the fan and media blasted them for hiring Torre...he was pretty good there

Again, I?m not an advocate for Henderson because I don?t believe prior to this run he was a candidate in Cohen?s mind but you can find countless examples, especially in baseball, where it?s the 2nd or 3rd time around where the manager finds greats success

[Todd4State]

What the story on this?

Just some posters on the old Genespage complaining about Cohen's language in the dugout.

[Liverpooldawg]

This is not college football. Nationally, no one will care. Rick Cleveland and Kellenberger May would write smn negative, but no major traction.

Also, I'd rather get this hire right (even if that's Hindu) than look nice.

The college baseball coaching community will care.

[MarketingBully]

Word in Omaha is Schloss is telling anyone who will listen that he wanted and still wants our job. Bo Bounds was saying it on OOB this morning. Would be hilarious if we still ended up with him.

[Liverpooldawg]

To play devils advocate, then NE should have never hired Belichick, USC shouldn?t have hired Pete Carroll, and the vast number of MLB manager retreads that didn?t have great success in their first gig is just too numerous to count. But Tony La Russa is one that coached the White Sox for several years, even won a COY award (sound familiar) and was the interim coach when he was first given the head gig, fired 2-3 years after his COY and hired immediately by the A?s.

Again, I?m not an advocate for Henderson because I don?t believe prior to this run he was a candidate in Cohen?s mind but you can find countless examples, especially in baseball, where it?s the 2nd or 3rd time around where the manager finds greats success

Even Saban failed at Miami.

[MarketingBully]

Even Saban failed at Miami.

8-8 isn’t failing in the NFL. Had he stayed he would have been successful imo. That’s just how he’s wired. He just prefers the college level but trust me his process could work on any level of the sport.

[ChillOutDog]

My issue is, in baseball all you can ask is to be in position for a championship. Henderson has shown he can do that...

Your first sentence is 100000% correct. Your second is the opposite.

The first sentence equates to HOSTING... REGULARLY. Gary Henderson has never hosted a regional.

[ChillOutDog]

The college baseball coaching community will care.

They want to keep the sleeping giant down.

[Liverpooldawg]

8-8 isn’t failing in the NFL. Had he stayed he would have been successful imo. That’s just how he’s wired. He just prefers the college level but trust me his process could work on any level of the sport.

It would be considered failure for MSU baseball to finish at .500.

[Liverpooldawg]

They want to keep the sleeping giant down.

I'm talking about those that might think about taking the job down the line.

[BrunswickDawg]

This is a really unusual and difficult situation to be in. The only other Interim coach of any kind taking a team and pushing toward a championship I can think of was in 2012 when Chuck Pagano got leukemia and Bruce Arians took over, goes 9-3 and leads them to the playoffs. He is the only Interim HC in NFL history to be named Coach of the Year.

Interestingly, Arians was a long-time assistant coach with a great rep who had coached in many winning programs, who had had only one shot as a HC (a shitastic run with Temple), and was probably viewed as too old to build a team.
Arians gets hired by Arizona - coming off a 5-11 season - and proceeds to go 10-6, 11-5, & 13-3 with an NFC Championship game loss. He then went 7-8-1 and 8-8 to finish out his run there.

Could Henderson be like Arians? I don't know. I don't know what the solution is.

[cheewgumm]

So the goal is to win the National championship.

Some of you are saying that after decades and decades and decades of trying, we finally win a national championship and our response is going to be to immediately fire the coach and find someone else?

When the press asks why, what will be Cohen's response? "We need someone that can take us to the next level". He'd look like a moron.

We are probably hiring Henderson now and DEFINITELY are if we win it. Not even a question.

[Jarius]

To play devils advocate, then NE should have never hired Belichick, USC shouldn?t have hired Pete Carroll, and the vast number of MLB manager retreads that didn?t have great success in their first gig is just too numerous to count. But Tony La Russa is one that coached the White Sox for several years, even won a COY award (sound familiar) and was the interim coach when he was first given the head gig, fired 2-3 years after his COY and hired immediately by the A?s. And look and Joe Torre’s career prior to the Yankees and the fan and media blasted them for hiring Torre...he was pretty good there

Again, I?m not an advocate for Henderson because I don?t believe prior to this run he was a candidate in Cohen?s mind but you can find countless examples, especially in baseball, where it?s the 2nd or 3rd time around where the manager finds greats success

You can’t find countless examples of a failed head coach turning it around. You can find a few, and you didn’t find a single one at the college baseball level (because you have to recruit and don’t just get handed the Yankees or cardinals roster that anyone could win with). I can find countless in all sports that got fired and were never hired again or were hired again and failed miserably again though. Would you like me to name those? I doubt we have enough bandwidth.

[Cooterpoot]

Belichick has the highest winning percentage of the last 10 Browns coaches. Bad example. Terrible franchise.

[smootness]

You can certainly argue Henderson has 'earned' the job. He still shouldn't get it, and I can assure you we won't get destroyed if we don't hire him.

Making this decision out of fear of backlash would be the absolute worst way to go about it.

[tcdog70]

Hendo deserves way more credit than he's getting on here for what he's done with this team. He has made a lot of posters look dumb and quite a few of them are doubling down...very odd and somewhat funny to watch.

Then on the other side of the coin this does feel like a bill Stewart at West Virginia scenario. But I'll lean toward trusting Cohen in the end.

what he said--big time agree

[cheewgumm]

In the history of college sports has any college program ever fired a coach the year after winning a national title?

[tcdog70]

90% of you Hendo haters were the very ones whining that we wouldn't win 5 SEC games. Ya'll pointed out all the reasons why we were terrible-- has it ever occurred that maybe you are also wrong on Hendo? 10-1 against top 5 teams in the Nation, should have slapped some sense into you. A piss poor Coach wouldn't have done that. We know what we have with this staff-who knows what another staff might do? But, I will be 100% on board with the JC choice, but I'll bet you negative 17ers will whine either way.

[mparkerfd20]

Supposedly, Schloss is going around Omaha saying he's still interested in our opening. Interesting at least.

[Todd4State]

In the history of college sports has any college program ever fired a coach the year after winning a national title?

You can't get fired from a job you never had.

[Bulldog1]

Supposedly, Schloss is going around Omaha saying he's still interested in our opening. Interesting at least.

Yep. It's definitely interesting.

[Cooterpoot]

Supposedly, Schloss is going around Omaha saying he's still interested in our opening. Interesting at least.

I can say without a doubt, he will not be our coach.

[BrunswickDawg]

You can’t find countless examples of a failed head coach turning it around. You can find a few, and you didn’t find a single one at the college baseball level (because you have to recruit and don’t just get handed the Yankees or cardinals roster that anyone could win with). I can find countless in all sports that got fired and were never hired again or were hired again and failed miserably again though. Would you like me to name those? I doubt we have enough bandwidth.

I think you don't see it in college baseball because the staffs are far less volatile than in MLB. Also, look at most career trajectories - You play college ball, kick around MiLB or get a cup of coffee in MLB for 5-6 years, so you are almost 30 before beginning your coaching career. Spend 1-2 years as a GA. Then 5-10 as an assistant. Get your first HC gig at a mid-major and spend 5-8 years there. You may then get a gig at a place like Kentucky or Illinois for 5-8 years before landing a "major" job. On a fast track - you are early 40s when you get that major (like Cohen). A good coach will last 8-15 years at the major before a change is made. You could be 52-60 years old having spent a lot of time in the game. Then, look at the options they have. On good terms with the University? Move up to AD like Cohen or Tanner did. Like your lifestyle and location? Get a job as an area scout for an MLB team because you already know all the High Schools and where to look. Have a good rep as an instructor and in player development? Move up to MiLB as a coach or into a MLB scouting department. Or, if you have done well for yourself, you could just retire and go coach high school ball for fun (Dave Perno is coaching high school football in Athens after going to 3 CWS, and is arguably UGA's best coach in the modern era - he's only 50)

[Really Clark?]

You can?t find countless examples of a failed head coach turning it around. You can find a few, and you didn?t find a single one at the college baseball level (because you have to recruit and don?t just get handed the Yankees or cardinals roster that anyone could win with). I can find countless in all sports that got fired and were never hired again or were hired again and failed miserably again though. Would you like me to name those? I doubt we have enough bandwidth.

There are a ton in MLB because of the nature, where as college baseball they let a good coach stay with his process for a long time. Andy Lopez comes to mind. Wins at Pepperdine, fired at Florida, wins it again at Arizona

[mparkerfd20]

I can say without a doubt, he will not be our coach.

I agree with you. He wanted it though, badly it looks like. I always thought it was us that told him no thanks. I've always thought we had out coach as far back as a month ago, and it wasn't Schloss. I won't say who I think it is, but it's not Hendo either.... Although I can see Hendo throwing a kink in the plans.