A closer look into Lemo's stint at IU...
I must admit, I was very disappointed when rumors began to spread that Lemonis was the guy. However, like Moorehead, the more I look into him, the more I like him. Neither were Home Run hires on the surface, but I think both were perfect fits and both will be very successful in Starkville for a long time.
When looking at Lemo's stint at Indiana, it is not very impressive on the surface. It's easy to see the CWS appearance and 2 big 10 championships prior to his hiring and say that what he did there was underwhelming, comparatively. However, to accurately compare, one must know the entirety of the situation.
-Lemo's predecessor at Indiana was current Arizona State Head Coach Tracy Smith, who was hired on at Indiana in 2006. From 2006-2012, Smith had a winning percentage of (0.485) and a conference winning percentage of (0.468), while making it to the NCAA tournament in only 1 of those 7 seasons.
-Smith struck gold in 2013 and 2014, with two conference championships, 2 40+ win seasons, and a trip to Omaha in 2013. However, this was a team lead by Kyle Schwarber and Sam Travis, who were both all Americans, and 1st and 2nd rounders, respectively.
-After 2014, Smith was hired at ASU, Schwarber and Travis were off to the minors, and Lemo steps into a team with little to no talent. After 2014, Indiana did not have a player drafted again until 2017, but have had 6 drafted since then (Smith only had 7 total guys drafted in his 9 years). What this says is that Lemo had no talent in his first two years, but brought in a ton of talent in those years that he would later develop into draft picks.
-Jumping off the above statement that Lemo stepped into a team with no talent; in Lemo's first two years, his Indiana team hit a combined 69 HR's, in Lemo's next two years, his Indiana team hit a combined 143 HR's. His 2017 and 2018 teams averaged more HR per year than his 2015 and 2016 teams hit combined. That's incredible.
-In Smith's 9 years, he appeared in 3 NCAA tourneys. Lemo appeared in 3 NCAA tourneys in his 4 years, while averaging just over 35 wins/season(Smith didn't reach 35 wins until his 8th season), and a (0.600) conference winning percentage, while eclipsing the 40 win mark this season for the first time.
-In Smith's last 4 years, and during his most successful, he had an average recruiting ranking of 73. In Lemo's first four years, he had an average recruiting ranking of 41. He had the Indiana program on a great trajectory, no doubt. For the 2019 class, he already had 10 commits, with two of them being top 100 recruits.
-Now consider all this and give Lemo an elite pitching coach, a baseball coach for an AD, the best venue in College Baseball, the most dedicated fan base in College Baseball, a program that recruits itself, and a team that is already loaded as he steps in. No, he isn't Schloss, nor McDonnell, he's Lemo, and he's gonna 17in kill it. I have a really good feeling about this.
