I still love that guy. I hate he torpedoed his career.
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Going with someone you're more familiar with (as in an assistant somewhere) is not the way to go, IMO. He needs to bring in a proven veteran and nobody knows our program and our culture better than Butch.
So back to grounding ourselves in reality, myself included, here's what I would consider a realistic list of candidates in no particular order.
1. Matt Deggs- In his 4th year at ULL. Took them to the tourney last year and looks to be building them back up to what they were during the Robichaux days. Was at Sam Houston St before ULL and was incredible there. Two tourneys and a Super in a conference that's only ever a one bid league.
2. Cliff Godwin- In his 9th year at ECU. Only missed the tourney once and has been to 3 straight Super Regionals. Was on Bianco's staff at OM as well as on staff with Mainieri at both ND and LSU.
3. Butch Thompson- Don't really think we need much of a bio on Butch.
4. Lane Burroughs- Again, probably don't need much of a bio on Lane.
5. John Szefc- VT coach in his 6th season. Was at Maryland before and was elite there. Went to back to back Supers and has finally built Va Tech back up as well. Just came off a Super last year and ranked 11th currently.
6. Brian O'Connor- In his 19th year at Virginia. Has won a national championship. Been to Omaha 5 times as well. This would probably be a home run realistic hire since I doubt Corbin or Vitello will pick up the phone.
7. Elliot Avent- In his 25th year at NC State. Built them up from nothing. Been to Omaha twice and of course probably would've played us in the championship series in 2021 had Vandy not tattled. Also has a ton of respect for our program and our fans.
8. Justin Haire- Head coach at Campbell. Been to the last 4 tournaments and was here in Starkville in 2021. A real program builder and if we go outside of the box a bit he would get a call.
9. Jordan Bischel- Head coach at Central Michigan. I've been high on him since the 19 regional they played in Starkville. His team is gritty but they play loose and have fun. He's also a very charismatic and energetic personality. Also been to the tourney every year he's been at CMU.
10. Nate Thompson- Asst coach and recruiting coordinator at Arkansas. If we go the asst route this is probably the guy we need to target. He's been their hitting coach since 2017 and as we've seen over the last few years they get up there and look like they're swinging tree trunks.
***Wild Cards***
1. Pat Casey- Probably be worth giving him a call to see if he's interested. Multiple national championships and built the Oregon St baseball program. Been out of the game for 5 years and if we could get him for 3-4 years and let him groom and asst it would be a good scenario for us.
2. Jim Schlossnagle- He obviously wanted the job and depending on who you talk to had verbally accepted the job in 18. He's been openly frustrated by some stuff at A&M this year so may be worth seeing if he would want out of that situation.
3. Jake Gautreau- I've added him to the WC's because I don't think he would get a look if the staff was let go, but if you think you've got something special with him, which I believe we do, he may be worth a shot.
I?d add Nate Yeskie to the list
Nate Thompson seems right. I like how Arkansas hits the ball. They choke in Omaha, but very good otherwise.
Plus Arkansas are stellar in recruiting. Recruiting MSU type of players in the MSU regions for recruiting from the same Elite squads.
Link Jarrett. He is back at his alma mater but we can pay more and are a higher profile program (at least for now).
He's got more SEC wins this year than us. He's highly thought of. He's in the top 5 IMO. Godwin probably is at the top. Deggs is likely in there too, since he got a short look before. Then there are the big timers that will be tough pulls but you try anyway. After seeing the Three Bucketeers win a Natty, a good coach should see they can too.
Let?s be certain of this?
If we can Lemonis, and it?s looking more and more likely, I fully believe MSU can go get a quality coach. It may not be the very top candidate, but we can get a top 15 coach in the country.
Lemonis was just decent at Indiana, and we are seeing why.
Well he has only had one. And that was more a daddy ball situation than Andy’s performance. I have told that story multiple times. The gist, Cann thought the program should be going one way and the daddies who wanted their sons to start thought it should be going another. Words were exchanged.
This and he also had issues before we hired him, but we hired him anyways. We took a chance because he has some talents in baseball but there was a reason no one hired before us and no one has hired him since. His personal life is destroying his professional life.
He wins. At a certain point, you have to ask yourself what your line in the sand is. I've said all along that he may not be a great person, but he has broken no laws. That doesn't mean I condone what he did, because I don't but I know what are program trajectory was under him. We don't have that trajectory under Chris. I've been on record multiple times in the past months saying that I would have suspended for the rest of the year and reevaluated the situation in June. I don't really care that Jake Mangum didn't like him. Our program is bigger than one player. Always has been and always will be. Jake didn't like him for a few reasons, most of them had nothing to do with Cannizarro texting his sidepiece.
It's so strange to see posters bash Jake Mangum (probably our #1 most legendary player of the 21st century) and Elijah Macnamee (also in the top 5) in order to take up for ... Andy Cannizzaro?? Seriously guys?