I'm not going to name any names, but I had a former player who is a banker in Mississippi tell me in my office one day that he absolutely hated John Cohen, and that as long as he was around, he was going to follow the program from afar.
Printable View
Yes. He is absolutely a real candidate. Will he get the job? I do not know. I am not in the room with Selmon and the search committee. Me personally, he is my number 1 candidate. I think he is a guy that carries you for the next 12-15 years and can win 1-2 national championships in that time. He has the fire of Cohen without the abrasive personality. And he recruits like Cannizarro.
Something about O’Conner just holds me back. I think it is just that he has been at UVA so long. I just worry how much fire is there. Because this is not a sit back and manage job. You have to live and breathe Mississippi State baseball 24/7/365.
Erik Bakich come on down please!! Ever since that super regional last year vs Florida when he was ejected from the game, started getting the fans fired up I said that?s our guy. He seems like a perfect fit for us
I think a guy who has been to Omaha 3 of the last 4 years, and who this year was widely expected to be out of a Regional (screwed by RPI/scheduling) but had fought back onto the bubble, probably still has the fire
Question: Could O'Conner be like Howland? On paper, great success, and Howland did ok, but it was a job to coast into retirement.
I don't think so, and here's why.
Howland had already started to sputter towards the end of his time at UCLA. He went to 3 final 4s and then missed the tournament twice in his last 5 years and never made it past the round of 32 in the other 3.
BOC has been to the CWS 3 times in the last 4 years coming into this year. Plus, he's only 54 years old. Sure, he's been at UVA for a long time, but it's not crazy to think he's got 10-15 more years left in the tank.
I think he is on the higher end of that projection. Like I think O’Conner could get us to Omaha. I just do not think he could win it. I also just wonder about how he will handle the portal. He has been very anti portal in the past and you need to be able to evaluate close on portal guys here.
O'Connor is younger than Wasikowski and Lemonis, and only 6 years older than Bakich.
I will just be honest, I am getting major Schlossnagle flashbacks in this O’Conner pursuit. All the talkings heads are saying the same stuff as last time.