Deep Dive Into The Candidates
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.
