Baseball Hot Board

[StarkVegasSteve]

Duke hadn't even been to regional since 1961 before he got there.

Again though, what does he bring to the table that makes him a HR hire? I am not trying to say he's not a good hire. Just trying to understand what makes him such a can't miss. Is it just that he's done good at a historically down program? I mean that's good, but that doesn't exactly make him can't miss. And maybe y'all are just saying HR candidate because you think he's the best of the most realistic candidates.

[Pancho]

Problem seems to be that all these guys are better than what we have with Lemo......that is what I am being told.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Problem seems to be that all these guys are better than what we have with Lemo......that is what I am being told.

Well that's the bad thing. We don't know if any of them will be better. They could end up being worse. I mean Justin Haire was the sure fire can't miss, he'd have us competing in Yr 1 candidate and he's 6-15 at Ohio St. Now do I think he's a failure as a HC, no. I think Ohio St is a bad program in a conference that doesn't care about baseball. But it just goes to show you, even these can't miss candidates have to be dropped into the right situation. I mean do you think Tony Vitello would be just as successful at Mizzou as he is at Tennessee? No. Mizzou doesn't give a rip about baseball and wouldn't give a rip whether they were 0-50 or 50-0. Now once they are dropped into the situation they have to produce, but they most likely will if they're given the resources to do that. Vitello was handed the keys at Tennessee and they gave him free reign and an almost unlimited budget.

[Santiago]

Well that's the bad thing. We don't know if any of them will be better. They could end up being worse. I mean Justin Haire was the sure fire can't miss, he'd have us competing in Yr 1 candidate and he's 6-15 at Ohio St. Now do I think he's a failure as a HC, no. I think Ohio St is a bad program in a conference that doesn't care about baseball. But it just goes to show you, even these can't miss candidates have to be dropped into the right situation. I mean do you think Tony Vitello would be just as successful at Mizzou as he is at Tennessee? No. Mizzou doesn't give a rip about baseball and wouldn't give a rip whether they were 0-50 or 50-0. Now once they are dropped into the situation they have to produce, but they most likely will if they're given the resources to do that. Vitello was handed the keys at Tennessee and they gave him free reign and an almost unlimited budget.

For Justin Haire at OSU, I don't see how we can judge him year one there, when they have been so bad. Other than the portal, it takes a couple of years to get your guys going in a program and I doubt OSU is buying in on baseball NIL for him.
He is a good coach, and for what he did at Campbell, evaluating talent and building it, he deserves that benefit of the doubt.

[preachermatt83]

Why would he be a HR hire? Genuinely curious because nothing on his record screams HR hire. Without winning the conference tournament he would've made the NCAA tournament 1 time in the last 4 years and he's a .500 coach in the NCAAT. Like what screams HR hire about that? I'm being serious. I'm not trying to say you're wrong just genuinely curious what y'all see in the guy. That's why I didn't add him to the initial list.

That?s my biggest issue. Anything that took place before like Covid, is pretty much not even worth looking at. Nothing pre nil/transfer portal era can be trusted. It?s an entirely new world of recruiting and even coaching to an extent. It?s stink. I hate it like this. But it?s just the facts of the matter regarding collegiate athletics. I think pollard is a good coach. In this era though, I?m concerned that the book may still be out on him

[cheewgumm]

I think it's probably a good time to fire this thing up. We can all see where this is headed and it's to Lemonis being replaced. With that being said, let's get the Hot Board going!!

Unrealistic But You Have to Make The Call

1. Link Jarrett-Wish we could've gotten him 3 years ago but he's now at his alma mater. But hey, our people leave their alma mater all the time. So why not give it a try? Guy has won everywhere.

2. Erik Bakich-The guy took Michigan to the CWS finals and has Clemson back rolling again. He'd probably be at the top of my list if I felt like we could realistically get him.

3. Mitch Canham-Again, you run into the alma mater situation but he's kept Oregon St steady after Pat. There's also so much uncertainty around them and how they're going to be able to compete at the D1 level without a conference so maybe you play that card.

4. Wes Johnson-He is not coming here. I will preface it with that. His wife HATED Starkville when he was here for his one year. But hey, make the call and throw a good salary at him. Maybe UGA will decide he's not worth it.

5. Butch Thompson-He's been up and down at Auburn but he has two CWS appearances at a school that had 4 all time prior to his arrival. He seems to know how to work the portal and he's the de facto PC. The Foxhall part of it would be weird, but I doubt he'd bring him. Also would be a giant 17 you to Cohen.


Realistic Hires

1. Rob Vaughn-He's winning at Bama for christ sake and won at Maryland before that. The guys IDs talent and builds prgorams as good as any coach. Look no further that what he has done with Justin LeBron.

2. Jordan Bischel-Had CMU as a real power at the G5 level and is building Cincinnati back, yes CINCINNATI, at an incredible pace. I have been a fan of his since the 2019 regional in Starkville. His teams play with less than zero fear no matter who they are playing and they stay loose. A stark contrast from our current team.

3. Skylar Meade-Has really done well at Troy. Has them in the Top 25 this year and seems to have that program in a great spot.

4. Mark Wasikowski-I am not as big a fan of his as others. He seems a little like Lemonis to me. But he has been solid at Oregon. Back to back Supers.

5. Skip Johnson-Pulling on Selmon's OU connections here. I think you could get him and get him without too much of a fight from OU. They don't really seem to prioritize baseball and he's done really well there.

6. Chris Pollard-Pretty consistent at Duke but nothing to really write home about. 3 Supers in 12 years is not exactly great.

Assts

1. Nate Thompson-I think this would have been the hire had we gone the asst route in 2019. His name has cooled a bit since but he's still one of the best recruiters in the country. He also seems to have altered their hitting approach this year and it has made them a better team.

2. Josh Elander-Seems to be the odds on favorite this time if we go this route. Been with Vitello since the beginning at Tennessee. And they swing tree trunks at the plate. The worry with him is that I think people will think we're getting a Vitello clone and that's just not the truth.

3. Will Coggin-Played here and was an asst under Cohen. A lot of people credit him with our hitting jump from 15 to 16. Went with Mingione to UK and is now with Wes at UGA. If we're going asst route, I would pick him or Thompson. He's known as a giant asshole so he probably won't be kissing babies and signing baseballs for kids, but he wins and recruits at a high level.

Candidates That People Mention That We ARE NOT Hiring

1. Dan Heefner-He's not leaving DBU. He's had multiple opportunities and been offered multiple HIGH LEVEL P4 jobs and turned them all down. He's not coming.

2. Tony Vitello-No. And btw, we actually have fans who think hiring him is realistic. I am not kidding on that.


Candidates That Will Win But We Have To Lock Them In Their Office With No Cell Phone

1. Andy Cannizarro-Give me the boxing gloves and spiked shoulder pads. Give me the stupid mirror selfies from the gym at 5 AM. But also, give me the guy that never said die with a team that had POSITION PLAYERS STARTING SEC GAMES. Give me the guy that recruited Tanner Allen, Landon Sims, Logan Tanner, Justin Foscue, and Jordan Westburg.

Thank you for putting together.

[cheewgumm]

Biggest surprise in this thread to me is that Wes Johnson is married.

[Todd4State]

Again though, what does he bring to the table that makes him a HR hire? I am not trying to say he's not a good hire. Just trying to understand what makes him such a can't miss. Is it just that he's done good at a historically down program? I mean that's good, but that doesn't exactly make him can't miss. And maybe y'all are just saying HR candidate because you think he's the best of the most realistic candidates.

You may have missed my other response.

You should look him up. He has won at App State and Duke- two essentially impossible places to win at. He has produced MLB players like Marcus Stroman. His staff is really good and has a ton of recruiting connections with scouts and PG.

If you give a guy like that our resources he is going to win big here.

It's not just Pollard- it's his staff. His hitting coach is elite. I'm looking at the whole picture of what the entire staff would be.

[Todd4State]

I'm just going to add this- not directed at anyone in particular, because I've seen several people talk about "realistic" candidates.

If we're going to fire a coach that we're paying 1.25 million dollars who has won a NC for not meeting our standards then we should have no trouble hiring a coach that is a big name.

Because you can't say that we have really high standards and then "Oh we can't hire a guy that's the head coach of Duke, Alabama, Cincinnati, etc."

John Cohen won't be running this coaching search.

[confucius say]

Selmon isn't comfortable making a baseball hire. His words. Take it fwiw

[StarkVegasSteve]

Selmon isn't comfortable making a baseball hire. His words. Take it fwiw

Would not surprise me one bit. Baseball has never been a priority at schools he's been at.

[State82]

I'm looking at the whole picture of what the entire staff would be.

And this is very critical. You have to know what you are getting from that standpoint and you have to pay them well (which we obviously do).

[Coach34]

There is more prestige as far as baseball is concerned at MSU. He won't have to compete with football as much as far as booster support goes at MSU. And we can pay more if we really want him.

Bama has way more money than us. They’ll spend it if they want. He’s already at 900K and hasn’t really done anything there yet. He’s not leaving Bama for Sville

[Todd4State]

Bama has way more money than us. They’ll spend it if they want. He’s already at 900K and hasn’t really done anything there yet. He’s not leaving Bama for Sville

Yeah but they spend that money on football- not baseball. Byrne won't go over 1.5 to keep him.

[Todd4State]

And this is very critical. You have to know what you are getting from that standpoint and you have to pay them well (which we obviously do).

That's my biggest concern with Elander.

Now when he gets a head coaching job and proves that he can manage a team and run a program then I think he might be a good candidate then.

[Todd4State]

Would not surprise me one bit. Baseball has never been a priority at schools he's been at.

Is he the one that's really making the choice though?

If he has any brains- and I think he does- he will probably put together some kind of committee to advise him.

We have a ton of good baseball connections- it would be idiotic to not use them.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Yeah but they spend that money on football- not baseball. Byrne won't go over 1.5 to keep him.

And we don't need to go near that high to get him. We're not hiring some guy who's been in Omaha a bunch. Offer 1.1-1.2 and he bites, great. If he doesn't then we move on. We can't get into a bidding war for a sport that loses 3 million a year.

[StarkVegasSteve]

Is he the one that's really making the choice though?

If he has any brains- and I think he does- he will probably put together some kind of committee to advise him.

We have a ton of good baseball connections- it would be idiotic to not use them.

And he will. He'll also use his connections in the Athletic admin world. Zac is an extremely smart guy. He will be prepared when the time comes. I was just saying that he may not be comfortable being like Cohen and running a baseball search by himself.

[Todd4State]

And we don't need to go near that high to get him. We're not hiring some guy who's been in Omaha a bunch. Offer 1.1-1.2 and he bites, great. If he doesn't then we move on. We can't get into a bidding war for a sport that loses 3 million a year.

1.5 was the top. We could offer 1.1 first- but if we think he is the right guy we are the program we think we are- we certainly can go to 1.5.

I wonder how much of that 3 million loss is on the baseball stadium mortgage?

[EdwardDrayton]

Selmon isn't comfortable making a baseball hire. His words. Take it fwiw

And that's not an issue. Leaders don't have to know about everything. They are just smart enough to know to pull in resources that do know all there is to know about that one endeavor. In this case a college baseball hire.