Bianco and Ole Miss

[CadaverDawg]

The Ole Miss fan base is convinced that Bianco is leaving for LSU, but I can't help but remember how our search went when our job opened last time. It's rarely ever the guy with all of the early rumor mill activity. So on top of the melting over missing Omaha, it could get really really hilarious if they end up having to keep mini Mike when they're all already trying to name who their next coach will be while Bianco hasn't even left yet.

I could see former players and coaches at LSU liking Bianco, but their AD would not be a popular guy if he hired Bianco, because their fans do not want him.

It's quite entertaining knowing we're awaiting games in Omaha while LSU and Ole Miss are knee deep in program altering decisions. Nice to be on the popcorn eating side for once. Hope it's a train wreck for both.

https://i.pinimg.com/originals/04/d0/af/04d0af6f7d2ed4dbab7fb7c57927fcfb.gif

[Commercecomet24]

I still think lsu is looking for another Bertman. They want NCs and bianco has shown to much propensity to choke in the postseason.

[DownwardDawg]

Man, if I were an LSU fan and the AD hired Bianco, I would be beyond pissed!!! Talk about underwhelming.

[Todd4State]

Yeah. We'll see what happens with all of that.

I do find it hard to believe that LSU would hire Bianco honestly. Sure, maybe it happens. I've seen stranger things before. It could also be a courtesy interview. I'm sure Bianco would take it if offered after Ole Miss didn't extend his contract a couple of years ago.

But the reality is the guy has a reputation for choking in the postseason and ruining arms. And yes, Louisiana is a better recruiting footprint than what Ole Miss has I get that.

LSU is interviewing Godwin too. But my guess is they end up going some other direction and maybe try to get Jay Johnson from Arizona or someone like that.

I'll say this too- if I'm Ole Miss I would be worried that Bianco would take Gonzalez to LSU with him.

[Todd4State]

I still think lsu is looking for another Bertman. They want NCs and bianco has shown to much propensity to choke in the postseason.

Absolutely. Who isn't right? Some of this I imagine is because much like MSU LSU has certain groups of alumni that have ties to certain former coaches and want to see them come back and get a shot. Like MSU with Raffo, Steve Smith, Brian Shoop, and etc. Cohen at the time too. Some of this is vetting and making sure that they can tell the Bertman people that they interviewed their "guy".

Same applies with Godwin in this situation as well.

[Commercecomet24]

Absolutely. Who isn't right? Some of this I imagine is because much like MSU LSU has certain groups of alumni that have ties to certain former coaches and want to see them come back and get a shot. Like MSU with Raffo, Steve Smith, Brian Shoop, and etc. Cohen at the time too. Some of this is vetting and making sure that they can tell the Bertman people that they interviewed their "guy".

Same applies with Godwin in this situation as well.

Yep politics play a huge part in all this.

[Todd4State]

Yep politics play a huge part in all this.

And with baseball because it's not as huge a sport at most schools there tends to be tighter knit groups that are usually hardcore supporters. Making them mad can cause a huge mess. Ask Greg Byrne and John Cohen.

[HaggardDawg]

I?ll disagree with these takes on Bianco. I think he would win at a place like LSU and honestly at MSU also. He has the personality and coaching style that works at programs that are more ?professional? if you know what I mean. He?s a great guy and fun coach to be around from personal experience. He doesn?t fit OM at all. Surprised he?s been there that long

[Commercecomet24]

And with baseball because it's not as huge a sport at most schools there tends to be tighter knit groups that are usually hardcore supporters. Making them mad can cause a huge mess. Ask Greg Byrne and John Cohen.

You got that right!

[Commercecomet24]

I?ll disagree with these takes on Bianco. I think he would win at a place like LSU and honestly at MSU also. He has the personality and coaching style that works at programs that are more ?professional? if you know what I mean. He?s a great guy and fun coach to be around from personal experience. He doesn?t fit OM at all. Surprised he?s been there that long

He's not a good in game coach and he's a poor handler of his pitching staff,biggest part of the reason they can't get to Omaha.

[OLJWales]

He's not a good in game coach and he's a poor handler of his pitching staff,biggest part of the reason they can't get to Omaha.

Good point. UMAA has given Bianco a ton of heppin' evidenced by crootin' classes that don't match the program.

[Todd4State]

I?ll disagree with these takes on Bianco. I think he would win at a place like LSU and honestly at MSU also. He has the personality and coaching style that works at programs that are more ?professional? if you know what I mean. He?s a great guy and fun coach to be around from personal experience. He doesn?t fit OM at all. Surprised he?s been there that long

I think he would be successful relatively speaking but like I said his pitching staff management and his overall team management are very questionable at times. So the question here is would that be good enough for LSU? No.

I'm not surprised that he has been at Ole Miss as long as he has. He is basically their best coach in school history. When they hired him they just wanted to go to Omaha. He has done that. He also came to Ole Miss at the right time. One year after he was hired we hired Polk II and let them have carte blance in recruiting for about ten years. On top of that LSU was in the Smoke Laval era and Auburn and Alabama trended down about the time he was hired. That's ample time to build a program with us neutralized. Once we hired Cohen that caught up to us for good and they passed us for a few years while we rebuilt and then about 2011 we pulled back even for about five years until we overtook them in 2016. So, basically in a nutshell Ole Miss's problem with Bianco is they want him to have MSU success with less resources and commitment and think that 2003-2010 was their "norm" when it's really not.

But that's fan perception. Their athletic officials realize what the situation is and he really hasn't had a bad season to the point where it would warrant firing. As long as he keeps getting them to the postseason he is safe.

[Todd4State]

Good point. UMAA has given Bianco a ton of heppin' evidenced by crootin' classes that don't match the program.

Meh. Ole Miss bagmen will never be able to outbid MLB for a player. That's why you very rarely see booster involvement in baseball. Football it's thousands of dollars. In baseball it's millions in some cases.

Their problem with recruiting is their footprint. They have to compete with MSU, LSU, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, and now Tennessee for players. Not to mention Alabama appears to be trending up and Butch is a good recruiter at Auburn. So what they're left with are their alums kids in Mississippi and then whatever they can get out of the big three baseball states in Florida, Georgia, Texas, and California. Look at their roster and where their players are from.

[OLJWales]

Meh. Ole Miss bagmen will never be able to outbid MLB for a player. That's why you very rarely see booster involvement in baseball. Football it's thousands of dollars. In baseball it's millions in some cases.

Their problem with recruiting is their footprint. They have to compete with MSU, LSU, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, and now Tennessee for players. Not to mention Alabama appears to be trending up and Butch is a good recruiter at Auburn. So what they're left with are their alums kids in Mississippi and then whatever they can get out of the big three baseball states in Florida, Georgia, Texas, and California. Look at their roster and where their players are from.

What about their high ranked crootin' classes?

[Todd4State]

What about their high ranked crootin' classes?

What about them? They recruit well enough to get to a SR. I mean they're not a bad team. But the thing is MSU, Arkansas, LSU, Vanderbilt, and etc. all also recruit very well and have highly ranked classes too.

[Commercecomet24]

What about them? They recruit well enough to get to a SR. I mean they're not a bad team. But the thing is MSU, Arkansas, LSU, Vanderbilt, and etc. all also recruit very well and have highly ranked classes too.

Right, we all have the talent it's the management and coaching of the talent that separates teams in the sec, and it's a very fine line. Talents not enough in the sec you have to manage it and develop it.

[Reunion Dog]

Nice guy my ass...

He is a little prick... Has Napoleon syndrome...

I have known him for over 35 years... His wife is a Saint... He ain't...

[TNDawg35]

What about them? They recruit well enough to get to a SR. I mean they're not a bad team. But the thing is MSU, Arkansas, LSU, Vanderbilt, and etc. all also recruit very well and have highly ranked classes too.

Actually, we’re winning without a top class. Just think when Lemonis recruits get here and get some time under their belt…

[shoeless joe]

Right, we all have the talent it's the management and coaching of the talent that separates teams in the sec, and it's a very fine line. Talents not enough in the sec you have to manage it and develop it.

Cohen was on the radio yesterday talking about how state attracts a certain type of baseball player. I thought his comments were spot on. He even went as far as to say ball players don’t come to state for the social aspect and he almost said “party atmosphere”. He was very clearly delineating between us and ole miss without ever mentioning them. Was interesting to actually hear him say all that.

[HaggardDawg]

I was literally about to post this same thing Shoeless. Part of Bianco?sis problem is the type of players that culture attracts. It?s OM, not Bianco. When Bianco was hired, he pulled Pettway, Head, and those boys who would have gone to State but we were extremely lazy recruiters. Had Van Pope qualified, good chance he ended up in that class as well. Go watch gsme 2 of the OM/Arizona. Nickhazy got in a battle and the hitter fouled off like 9 pitches. Nickhazy is talking shit saying ?stop fouling the damn ball off?. Then you have Landon sims battling Kavasos to win the game, basically same AB. But our guys have more of a quiet confidence and professionalism about it. But hose are the guys I want and who can be trusted to not let other distractions and frustrations in. Just my opinion.

All baseball coaches are dicks to some extent so that?s not a great point. I know former players of his and watched him recruit that early class up close and he comes across as a good guy.

[Choctaw Dawg]

Meh. Ole Miss bagmen will never be able to outbid MLB for a player. That's why you very rarely see booster involvement in baseball. Football it's thousands of dollars. In baseball it's millions in some cases.

Their problem with recruiting is their footprint. They have to compete with MSU, LSU, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, and now Tennessee for players. Not to mention Alabama appears to be trending up and Butch is a good recruiter at Auburn. So what they're left with are their alums kids in Mississippi and then whatever they can get out of the big three baseball states in Florida, Georgia, Texas, and California. Look at their roster and where their players are from.

It is about to get even worse for Ole Miss too, Lemonis is killing it getting instate guys for the next three years. They will have a very small footprint in their own state, and that is very bad for them considering he has built relationships with high school coaches for 20+ years while Lemonis has only been here for 2.

[Irondawg]

Todd - why do you think Gonzalez would follow him if he left?

[Todd4State]

Todd - why do you think Gonzalez would follow him if he left?

I think he might because he would be playing for a coach he is familiar with in a better situation to put it bluntly.

Not saying it will happen but I could see it.

[StarkVegasSteve]

If I'm Scott Woodward then I'm calling Link Jarrett. What he's done with ND in such a short period of time is pretty damn impressive. The way he recruits could be dangerous in that launching pad. And he has SEC experience being on staff at Auburn.

I think LSU fans need to go ahead and give up the hope that they're going to pull the big fish. We learned it during our search that no matter the program or the facilities, it's really hard to pull a sitting P5 HC with CWS experience (O'Sullivan, McDonnell, Corbin, Tadlock, etc.). The Schloss thing at A&M is different because he's been wanting out of TCU since our job came open in 18. If I'm LSU I'm interviewing Link Jarrett, Jay Johnson, Brad Bohannon, Casey Dunn(a bit of a wildcard, but his philosophy fits their park), Godwin, and then Bianco.

[shoeless joe]

I was literally about to post this same thing Shoeless. Part of Bianco?sis problem is the type of players that culture attracts. It?s OM, not Bianco. When Bianco was hired, he pulled Pettway, Head, and those boys who would have gone to State but we were extremely lazy recruiters. Had Van Pope qualified, good chance he ended up in that class as well. Go watch gsme 2 of the OM/Arizona. Nickhazy got in a battle and the hitter fouled off like 9 pitches. Nickhazy is talking shit saying ?stop fouling the damn ball off?. Then you have Landon sims battling Kavasos to win the game, basically same AB. But our guys have more of a quiet confidence and professionalism about it. But hose are the guys I want and who can be trusted to not let other distractions and frustrations in. Just my opinion.

All baseball coaches are dicks to some extent so that?s not a great point. I know former players of his and watched him recruit that early class up close and he comes across as a good guy.

I?ve been around bianco and his boys a decent amount. Always nice and willing to talk baseball. Heard him speak a few times and the guy knows his stuff. Again I respect the hell out of him.

And Van was without a doubt going to ole miss had he qualified. If that would have happened they would have had two, two way guys that were flat out filthy.

[Dawgbite]

At Hoover I sat next to a lady wearing Kentucky garb. Throughout the games I learned that she was third generation Ole Miss grad and one son played for Bianco and a second son coached or was on the staff for Bianco. She hated him with a passion usually reserved for an ex wife. The Napoleon complex was just what she described. The coach son jumped to Kentucky, thus her attire, first chance he got and couldn’t be happier. Of course people like that aren’t the ones who make the decisions.

[OLJWales]

At Hoover I sat next to a lady wearing Kentucky garb. Throughout the games I learned that she was third generation Ole Miss grad and one son played for Bianco and a second son coached or was on the staff for Bianco. She hated him with a passion usually reserved for an ex wife. The Napoleon complex was just what she described. The coach son jumped to Kentucky, thus her attire, first chance he got and couldn’t be happier. Of course people like that aren’t the ones who make the decisions.

Nice story. Makes you wonder what his players think of him overall.

[basedog]

At Hoover I sat next to a lady wearing Kentucky garb. Throughout the games I learned that she was third generation Ole Miss grad and one son played for Bianco and a second son coached or was on the staff for Bianco. She hated him with a passion usually reserved for an ex wife. The Napoleon complex was just what she described. The coach son jumped to Kentucky, thus her attire, first chance he got and couldn’t be happier. Of course people like that aren’t the ones who make the decisions.

You should hear my bro n law who had a son that pitched at OM mid 90’s talk about Bianca. He ruined his son’s arm.

[OLJWales]

Bianco has benefited having elite crootin but results have not been elite. Based on that along with a reputation for destroying arms tells me I wouldn't want him running my teams show.

[Randolph Dupree]

I was literally about to post this same thing Shoeless. Part of Bianco?sis problem is the type of players that culture attracts. It?s OM, not Bianco. When Bianco was hired, he pulled Pettway, Head, and those boys who would have gone to State but we were extremely lazy recruiters. Had Van Pope qualified, good chance he ended up in that class as well. Go watch gsme 2 of the OM/Arizona. Nickhazy got in a battle and the hitter fouled off like 9 pitches. Nickhazy is talking shit saying ?stop fouling the damn ball off?. Then you have Landon sims battling Kavasos to win the game, basically same AB. But our guys have more of a quiet confidence and professionalism about it. But hose are the guys I want and who can be trusted to not let other distractions and frustrations in. Just my opinion.

All baseball coaches are dicks to some extent so that?s not a great point. I know former players of his and watched him recruit that early class up close and he comes across as a good guy.

My kid has been coached by 2 of the 3 referenced above. Only thing wrong with either of them is the Ole Miss connection. Good guys. Sorry, not really related to the thread.

[Indndawg]

How CONSISTENLY good was OM b4 MB got there? I see him as more or less a Dan Mullen type coach.

[PGHBulldogBG]

Mike Bianco took a bottom tier program and made them a program consistently in the top half of the conference. He also took them to the final 4 in Omaha in 2014. This seems like a knee jerk reaction from their fan base. I get if he had completely dropped the ball and did terrible for several years after that run, but he has accomplished a lot at Ole Miss. I don?t really get why they would want him gone. That being said, I?m not sure he is the right fit at LSU. I think LSU would want to go after someone like Corbin. Bianco would be a solid B hire for LSU but I think they can go bigger

[StarkVegasSteve]

Mike Bianco took a bottom tier program and made them a program consistently in the top half of the conference. He also took them to the final 4 in Omaha in 2014. This seems like a knee jerk reaction from their fan base. I get if he had completely dropped the ball and did terrible for several years after that run, but he has accomplished a lot at Ole Miss. I don?t really get why they would want him gone. That being said, I?m not sure he is the right fit at LSU. I think LSU would want to go after someone like Corbin. Bianco would be a solid B hire for LSU but I think they can go bigger

They only see one stat: 3-16, which is Bianco's record against us since 2016. But remember, we're not their real rival.

[Indndawg]

OM was terrible before he arrived. They'd be smart to hold on to him and just expect MSU to be better every year and perhaps win a game vs MSU. Question is could MB raise LSU like he did OM? or is what he did at OM the ceiling and that's all he can do.

I wouldn't chance it.

[OLJWales]

Mike Bianco took a bottom tier program and made them a program consistently in the top half of the conference. He also took them to the final 4 in Omaha in 2014. This seems like a knee jerk reaction from their fan base. I get if he had completely dropped the ball and did terrible for several years after that run, but he has accomplished a lot at Ole Miss. I don?t really get why they would want him gone. That being said, I?m not sure he is the right fit at LSU. I think LSU would want to go after someone like Corbin. Bianco would be a solid B hire for LSU but I think they can go bigger

If we had been to zero supers the last decade, there would be a statue of him for fulfilling his flagship promise when hired. Its part of the childish sense of entitlement that IS Shitbird