Realistic Candidates for HC

Getting back onto topic a bit here, it seems like people are firmly entrenched in two caps at the moment.

1. If we do not get Brian O’Conner then the search is a failure and we are going to suck.

2. If we do not get Dan Heefner then the search is a failure and we do not want to win.


I would say it is better than 50/50 we do not get either. It is like 95/5 we do not get Heefner. He is just not going to budge on stuff, and that should be applauded that he has convictions that strong. Unfortunately, just like A&M and a few other jobs, his convictions will cost him this job. On O’Conner, he still has to be interested in OUR JOB. He may interested in getting out but is he interested in walking into the pressure cooker that is Mississippi State baseball. There are only about 3-5 other jobs in the country with as much pressure as ours.

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Originally Posted by StarkVegasSteve

Getting back onto topic a bit here, it seems like people are firmly entrenched in two caps at the moment.

1. If we do not get Brian O’Conner then the search is a failure and we are going to suck.

2. If we do not get Dan Heefner then the search is a failure and we do not want to win.


I would say it is better than 50/50 we do not get either. It is like 95/5 we do not get Heefner. He is just not going to budge on stuff, and that should be applauded that he has convictions that strong. Unfortunately, just like A&M and a few other jobs, his convictions will cost him this job. On O’Conner, he still has to be interested in OUR JOB. He may interested in getting out but is he interested in walking into the pressure cooker that is Mississippi State baseball. There are only about 3-5 other jobs in the country with as much pressure as ours.

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I'm in neither category. I think you take the swings at Heefner and O'Connor. If you can't pull them in, it's not a big deal. I didn't expect it when this process started.

I'm in the camp that isn't quite sure the established coaches that will be willing to move on from their current jobs would be better than going the SEC assistant route. Guys like Chris Pollard and Mark Wasikowski are good coaches, but are they the coaches that will elevate this program and compete head-to-head year after year against Tony Vitello, Dave Van Horn, Jim Schlossnagle, Jay Johnson, and Tim Corbin?

Brian O'Connor would be the top guy, but he's also 53. How much longer will the competitive fire be burning for him?

I guess you could consider me in the camp that fears an established coach will be another Lemonis and believes that the next Tony Vitello is an assistant somewhere. Maybe Coggin at Georgia. Maybe Cain at Texas.

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Originally Posted by StarkVegasSteve

Getting back onto topic a bit here, it seems like people are firmly entrenched in two caps at the moment.

1. If we do not get Brian O?Conner then the search is a failure and we are going to suck.

2. If we do not get Dan Heefner then the search is a failure and we do not want to win.


I would say it is better than 50/50 we do not get either. It is like 95/5 we do not get Heefner. He is just not going to budge on stuff, and that should be applauded that he has convictions that strong. Unfortunately, just like A&M and a few other jobs, his convictions will cost him this job. On O?Conner, he still has to be interested in OUR JOB. He may interested in getting out but is he interested in walking into the pressure cooker that is Mississippi State baseball. There are only about 3-5 other jobs in the country with as much pressure as ours.

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I read the different boards and confused on this. Where are you seeing people would call it a failure if not those two? I really have not seen the reference of failure being mentioned.
I have seen about 5 names, and also the seemingly orchestrated online boost for Coggin by those supporters.

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Originally Posted by Santiago

I read the different boards and confused on this. Where are you seeing people would call it a failure if not those two? I really have not seen the reference of failure being mentioned.
I have seen about 5 names, and also the seemingly orchestrated online boost for Coggin by those supporters.

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I am not saying that is what they were saying. But I have followed coaching searches long enough, people get so damn fixated on a candidate that any other candidate is seen as a failure in their eyes. And unfortunately, those people tend to post about it on Twitter.

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Originally Posted by KB21

Cannizzaro didn't fail because he was an assistant with no head coaching experience. He also didn't resort to what he was doing because the pressure of the job got to him. If anything, Cannizzaro shows that an assistant coach can be successful here, because the one season he was the head coach may have been the best coached season we have seen in a long time. He took a team that had 5 healthy pitchers to a Super Regional.

I'm trying to think of the last SEC head coach who was a first-time head coach who was promoted from being a SEC assistant coach who truly failed based on results, and I'm having a hard time finding one. Maybe Dave Perno is the last one.

I've seen a lot of "established head coaches" fail though. Mark Kingston. John Pawlawski. Sunny Galloway. Scott Stricklin. Dave Serrano. Todd Raleigh. Andy Lopez.

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I'm not even sure you could call Perno a failure.
He won 2 SEC titles, was 2x SEC COY, was '04 National COY, went to the post season 6 times in 12 years, had 3 CWS appearances and was runner-up in '08. He has half of UGA's all time CWS appearances. At a school that didn't give shit about baseball until 2 years ago.

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Originally Posted by StarkVegasSteve

I am not saying that is what they were saying. But I have followed coaching searches long enough, people get so damn fixated on a candidate that any other candidate is seen as a failure in their eyes. And unfortunately, those people tend to post about it on Twitter.

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yeah those on twitter try to act like "influencers" .

I have a feeling there are 1 or 2 candidates no one knows. But we seem to be in a much better spot than Cohen's search.

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Originally Posted by StarkVegasSteve

Getting back onto topic a bit here, it seems like people are firmly entrenched in two caps at the moment.

1. If we do not get Brian O’Conner then the search is a failure and we are going to suck.

2. If we do not get Dan Heefner then the search is a failure and we do not want to win.


I would say it is better than 50/50 we do not get either. It is like 95/5 we do not get Heefner. He is just not going to budge on stuff, and that should be applauded that he has convictions that strong. Unfortunately, just like A&M and a few other jobs, his convictions will cost him this job. On O’Conner, he still has to be interested in OUR JOB. He may interested in getting out but is he interested in walking into the pressure cooker that is Mississippi State baseball. There are only about 3-5 other jobs in the country with as much pressure as ours.

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You've also got some folks spamming the boards with Coggin, so don't forget about that

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Originally Posted by StarkVegasSteve

Getting back onto topic a bit here, it seems like people are firmly entrenched in two caps at the moment.

1. If we do not get Brian O’Conner then the search is a failure and we are going to suck.

2. If we do not get Dan Heefner then the search is a failure and we do not want to win.


I would say it is better than 50/50 we do not get either. It is like 95/5 we do not get Heefner. He is just not going to budge on stuff, and that should be applauded that he has convictions that strong. Unfortunately, just like A&M and a few other jobs, his convictions will cost him this job. On O’Conner, he still has to be interested in OUR JOB. He may interested in getting out but is he interested in walking into the pressure cooker that is Mississippi State baseball. There are only about 3-5 other jobs in the country with as much pressure as ours.

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While I would say Heefner is my numero 1 guy, if it?s not him, I wouldn?t think it?s a failure - he?s the unicorn that has yet to move anywhere

But you always miss 100 percent of the shots you don?t take.

Hey if my wife hadn?t introduced herself to me 22 years ago?.oh wait we?re talking baseball (no pics)

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Originally Posted by Cooterpoot

You've also got some folks spamming the boards with Coggin, so don't forget about that

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Coggin or a mid major coach would be the only failures in my book.

I would reach out to O'Conner, Heefner, and Pollard first.

Then I would choose between Elander and Dan Fitzgerald. I'm pretty confident we could pull either.

My next coach would be 1 of those 5.

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Originally Posted by HoopsDawg

Coggin or a mid major coach would be the only failures in my book.

I would reach out to O'Conner, Heefner, and Pollard first.

Then I would choose between Elander and Dan Fitzgerald. I'm pretty confident we could pull either.

My next coach would be 1 of those 5.

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Well we have put out that we are looking to hire a current HC- so hiring an Asst would be a failure as far as our objective is concerned

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Originally Posted by Coach34

Well we have put out that we are looking to hire a current HC- so hiring an Asst would be a failure as far as our objective is concerned

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Selmon said that?

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Originally Posted by Coach34

Well we have put out that we are looking to hire a current HC- so hiring an Asst would be a failure as far as our objective is concerned

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Say what?

It seems like every time I read names and go do deep research on who I like, I get my hopes up and feelings hurt when we end up with some JV coach from the North Jackson Youth Baseball.

With that being said, why is everyone big on Pollard? His winning percentage at Duke is worse than Lemonis had here. Sure, Duke is a decent program but he hasn?t done THAT much to make him elite.

I think O?Conner would be a solid pick - at 53, we could get 10ish years out of him. O?Sullivan would be a disaster. He is a total troll. Wes Johnson already destroyed a few seasons for us, why would you want him back? Heefner and his convictions? this is us hiring him, not him hiring us. Play by what we want or don?t take our job.

And no, I?m not a big poster or baseball mind but just my opinion as a big fan.

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Originally Posted by Medic601

It seems like every time I read names and go do deep research on who I like, I get my hopes up and feelings hurt when we end up with some JV coach from the North Jackson Youth Baseball.

With that being said, why is everyone big on Pollard? His winning percentage at Duke is worse than Lemonis had here. Sure, Duke is a decent program but he hasn?t done THAT much to make him elite.

I think O?Conner would be a solid pick - at 53, we could get 10ish years out of him. O?Sullivan would be a disaster. He is a total troll. Wes Johnson already destroyed a few seasons for us, why would you want him back? Heefner and his convictions? this is us hiring him, not him hiring us. Play by what we want or don?t take our job.

And no, I?m not a big poster or baseball mind but just my opinion as a big fan.

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Duke hadn't been to the postseason since 1961 until he arrived. He is the one that has made them decent. It's a dead end program with zero resources and he made them respectable. Their stadium is like a nice high school stadium.

He also has a really good eye for talent and is great at development. I would consider him a home run if we hired him.

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Originally Posted by StarkVegasSteve

Getting back onto topic a bit here, it seems like people are firmly entrenched in two caps at the moment.

1. If we do not get Brian O’Conner then the search is a failure and we are going to suck.

2. If we do not get Dan Heefner then the search is a failure and we do not want to win.


I would say it is better than 50/50 we do not get either. It is like 95/5 we do not get Heefner. He is just not going to budge on stuff, and that should be applauded that he has convictions that strong. Unfortunately, just like A&M and a few other jobs, his convictions will cost him this job. On O’Conner, he still has to be interested in OUR JOB. He may interested in getting out but is he interested in walking into the pressure cooker that is Mississippi State baseball. There are only about 3-5 other jobs in the country with as much pressure as ours.

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There are about 5-6 guys I would be very interested excited to get. If it's not one of them I would still give the guy a chance.

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Originally Posted by Medic601

It seems like every time I read names and go do deep research on who I like, I get my hopes up and feelings hurt when we end up with some JV coach from the North Jackson Youth Baseball.

With that being said, why is everyone big on Pollard? His winning percentage at Duke is worse than Lemonis had here. Sure, Duke is a decent program but he hasn?t done THAT much to make him elite.

I think O?Conner would be a solid pick - at 53, we could get 10ish years out of him. O?Sullivan would be a disaster. He is a total troll. Wes Johnson already destroyed a few seasons for us, why would you want him back? Heefner and his convictions? this is us hiring him, not him hiring us. Play by what we want or don?t take our job.

And no, I?m not a big poster or baseball mind but just my opinion as a big fan.

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Great post.

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Originally Posted by HoopsDawg

Selmon said that?

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not publicly but multiple baseball reporters have said they were told that

0% chance Heefner would come here so I'll start my list with a 1% chance guy and go from there.
1. Jarrett
2. O'Connor
3. Bakich
4. Elander

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Originally Posted by Mjoelner34

0% chance Heefner would come here so I'll start my list with a 1% chance guy and go from there.
1. Jarrett
2. O'Connor
3. Bakich
4. Elander

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You can move Jarrett into the 0% category as well. 1A or 1B for me would be BOC and Bakich. Either one is an absolute grand slam hire.

I would be shocked if Heefner comes here. I believe we have the same chance if not better of getting Vitello (although I think that chance is 1% Heefner and 2% Vitello). Heefner has been there for almost 20 years and has never moved while consistently winning. I think the religion factor is keeping him in place. Jarrett would be my #1 choice, but why would he leave a storied baseball program that is his alma mater? O'Connor would be a bit more realistic but still a stretch as he has been comfy at UVA. I think we get Elander or Coggin if we go assistant route. Head coaching route probably Mingione or Pollard or Sabins.

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Originally Posted by StarkVegasSteve

You can move Jarrett into the 0% category as well. 1A or 1B for me would be BOC and Bakich. Either one is an absolute grand slam hire.

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Probably so but you at least kick the tires whereas you don't even pick up the phone on Heefner.

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Originally Posted by Medic601

It seems like every time I read names and go do deep research on who I like, I get my hopes up and feelings hurt when we end up with some JV coach from the North Jackson Youth Baseball.

With that being said, why is everyone big on Pollard? His winning percentage at Duke is worse than Lemonis had here. Sure, Duke is a decent program but he hasn?t done THAT much to make him elite.

I think O?Conner would be a solid pick - at 53, we could get 10ish years out of him. O?Sullivan would be a disaster. He is a total troll. Wes Johnson already destroyed a few seasons for us, why would you want him back? Heefner and his convictions? this is us hiring him, not him hiring us. Play by what we want or don?t take our job.

And no, I?m not a big poster or baseball mind but just my opinion as a big fan.

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I mean you can make a case for why all of those guys would be successful here. You can also make a case for why all of those guys would be risky hires. Sounds like you aren?t going to be happy regardless of who we hire

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Originally Posted by PGHBulldogBG

I would be shocked if Heefner comes here. I believe we have the same chance if not better of getting Vitello (although I think that chance is 1% Heefner and 2% Vitello). Heefner has been there for almost 20 years and has never moved while consistently winning. I think the religion factor is keeping him in place. Jarrett would be my #1 choice, but why would he leave a storied baseball program that is his alma mater? O'Connor would be a bit more realistic but still a stretch as he has been comfy at UVA. I think we get Elander or Coggin if we go assistant route. Head coaching route probably Mingione or Pollard or Sabins.

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Vitello is 0%. He is the highest paid HC in the country. We cant afford Vitello. It would take 4-4.5MM per year to hire him if he would even agree. Thats not happening.
Heefner- the hardcore Baptist- is going to leave to go coach at a place famous for its drinking and cooking during ballgames?? Good luck on that one as well.

Now a couple of good coaches at places that arent willing to spend much money in this NIL Era- yes. That could happen and benefit us. That's our best chance at landing a big fish. If we cant get lucky there- then it's either lower P4/G5/Top Asst

In regards to Heefner I don?t think religion or drinking would be deciding factors - data points sure

His boys being able to play for him (he still had a 2025 and 2027 on the way)

At DBU, they will play a role and have a roster spot.

Any other place, that may not be able to be the case

Coggin is from Booneville......isn't Keenum from the same area?
I only say it in fun, but what is in the water up there.

One thing that concerns me about Pollard. He's never coached anywhere outside the State of North Carolina. He was an assistant at Davidson for 2 seasons before becoming the head coach at D2 Pfeiffer. He went from Pfeiffer to App State to Duke. All in North Carolina.

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Originally Posted by Santiago

Coggin is from Booneville......isn't Keenum from the same area?
I only say it in fun, but what is in the water up there.

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His dad was the coach at Booneville high school back when I played high school ball.

The Bakich buyout is going to be a problem so I'll be surprised there. We're going to find out what kind of money/swing baseball boosters carry though.

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Originally Posted by Mjoelner34

0% chance Heefner would come here so I'll start my list with a 1% chance guy and go from there.
1. Jarrett
2. O'Connor
3. Bakich
4. Elander

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Just my Opinion:

1. Jarrett - Not possible, unless he is a Florida State graduate and former player that is also a secret MSU fan.
2. O'Connor - He is my #1
3. Bakich - Not possible, has a similar job and pay, unless he just wants to move
4. Elander - Getting a Hitting Coach that works for Hitting Coach, a Recruiting Coordinator that works for a Recruiting Coordinator, nah

Erik Bakich, Clemson's baseball coach, earns $1.275 million in the 2024-25 season. His new contract extends through 2030 and includes a final-year salary of $1.525 million. His salary will increase by $50,000 each season, as detailed in his six-year, $8.4 million deal.

Link Jarrett would make $6.5 million over the seven-year contract agreement or an average of around $929,000 per season. $1,575,000 the final season of the new deal. - He is set to make an average of $1.275 million dollars per season over the life of the contract and a total value of $8.925 million dollars. He could use a good season and Kendall Rodgers to get himself a raise.

Just a question, Josh Elander makes $194K for Vitello. Why not offer him $380K to be Justin Parker's hitting coach and recruiting coordinator? Even $425K. Would he not be interested? Then Elander is still doing the job he does in Tennessee.

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Originally Posted by Coach34

Vitello is 0%. He is the highest paid HC in the country. We cant afford Vitello. It would take 4-4.5MM per year to hire him if he would even agree. Thats not happening.
Heefner- the hardcore Baptist- is going to leave to go coach at a place famous for its drinking and cooking during ballgames?? Good luck on that one as well.

Now a couple of good coaches at places that arent willing to spend much money in this NIL Era- yes. That could happen and benefit us. That's our best chance at landing a big fish. If we cant get lucky there- then it's either lower P4/G5/Top Asst

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I think y'all are missing on what a true Christian Baptist's calling is. Doctors don't treat the well. They treat the sick. Not only would the Lounge at Dudy Noble Field be a great Mission Field for Heefner, many of those drinkers and cookers are probably devout Baptists anyway. And the rest are either Methodist, Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Pentecostal, Hindu, Buddhist, 7th Day Adventist, and any number of other denominations that would be ripe for conversion to the True Denomination which is Southern Baptist!😎😎😎😎

Spoke to a player?s dad today. He said the players are relieved, relaxed, and somewhat excited about playing the remainder of the season with no Lemonis. He didn?t have time to give me the deep dive, all he said was ?it was bad?.

https://x.com/CaptGIlliam/status/1917998450030809516

Former Kentucky player on Will Coggin.

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Originally Posted by Thick

Spoke to a player?s dad today. He said the players are relieved, relaxed, and somewhat excited about playing the remainder of the season with no Lemonis. He didn?t have time to give me the deep dive, all he said was ?it was bad?.

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I've heard a few inklings of that, and it's why i posited in another thread that i thought the team might catch fire now. We'll see.

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Originally Posted by Thick

Spoke to a player?s dad today. He said the players are relieved, relaxed, and somewhat excited about playing the remainder of the season with no Lemonis. He didn?t have time to give me the deep dive, all he said was ?it was bad?.

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Highfill dad had some X comments that have since been deleted

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Originally Posted by sandjunky

Highfill dad had some X comments that have since been deleted

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If it's the ones about the team playing more relaxed I didn't think they were that bad.

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Originally Posted by KB21

https://x.com/CaptGIlliam/status/1917998450030809516

Former Kentucky player on Will Coggin.

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You read that thread, and it?s hard to not get excited. Here?s my opinion on the new coach?we need stability within the program from the top with a coach that has a fire in their belly not just to compete at a high level, but to win at a high level. Our next HC needs to be someone who recruits at a high level (duh), but WANTS to be at MSU! I know we want a sitting HC, and I get it. We?ve gone after those guys, but wives have been an issue. Coggins is single right? I?m kind of leaning to this guy, bc he?s a hard ass and highly passionate about the game and about MSU! We need a guy that can put us into a position where we are in the top tier SEC year in and year out which means we will always be in the CWS conversation! The big question is can he put together a great staff. Start flaming!

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Originally Posted by Thick

You read that thread, and it?s hard to not get excited. Here?s my opinion on the new coach?we need stability within the program from the top with a coach that has a fire in their belly not just to compete at a high level, but to win at a high level. Our next HC needs to be someone who recruits at a high level (duh), but WANTS to be at MSU! I know we want a sitting HC, and I get it. We?ve gone after those guys, but wives have been an issue. Coggins is single right? I?m kind of leaning to this guy, bc he?s a hard ass and highly passionate about the game and about MSU! We need a guy that can put us into a position where we are in the top tier SEC year in and year out which means we will always be in the CWS conversation! The big question is can he put together a great staff. Start flaming!

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+1

I?m with you

I?m

1) O?Conner
2) Coggins

In fairness I don?t know a lot about the coaches. This is off what I read here and other places.

I would think the #1 thing needs is talent evaluator.

Everyone says Coggin is elite at that.

I would be on board with Coggins or O’Conner. I would be interested in the Troy coach too. I’m not sure about anything else beyond that.

?but, but he was a prick to some fans 8 years ago and he defended his players in Starkville last year when Johnny Long lost his mind.**

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Originally Posted by CaptainObvious

I think y'all are missing on what a true Christian Baptist's calling is. Doctors don't treat the well. They treat the sick. Not only would the Lounge at Dudy Noble Field be a great Mission Field for Heefner, many of those drinkers and cookers are probably devout Baptists anyway. And the rest are either Methodist, Catholic, Lutheran, Presbyterian, Episcopalian, Pentecostal, Hindu, Buddhist, 7th Day Adventist, and any number of other denominations that would be ripe for conversion to the True Denomination which is Southern Baptist!��������

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I mean, this is true.