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Thread: Deep Dive Into The Candidates

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    Senior Member StarkVegasSteve's Avatar
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    Deep Dive Into The Candidates

    I did this for football so figured I would bring it back with baseball and deep dive into, at least what I perceive to be, our Top 4 candidates:

    1. Brian O'Conner-This is who all the buzz has been around and deservedly so. The guy has a national championship under his belt and has made it to Omaha 7 times, he's also a native of Omaha so I'm sure he loves getting back. He is a program builder at heart. He helped Paul Mainieri build that Notre Dame program in the late 90s-early 2000s. He also has completely built the UVA program to the level it is at today. Prior to O'Conner they had been to the NCAAT 3 times in their program history. He will come in Day 1 and the expectations will be Omaha. I have no doubt that will be relayed to him in any interview as well. UVA has had 13 First Round picks in O'Conner era so the player development and recruiting piece are definitely there. I would expect him to try and bring assistants with him since his have been with him so long. Kevin McMullan is the name everyone knows and they should. He's been with O'Conner the entire time and is a 2x national asst of the year. I would think he will also get a look at the UVA job if O'Conner elects to make the move, but would be a huge addition to our staff if he elected to move with O'Conner. Drew Dickinson is the pitching coach. I don't know that O'Conner would elect to bring him along. Their pitching has been iffy since he took over so I could see this as a spot where Justin Parker may have the opportunity to stay on as PC. Recruiting the portal is the one thing that worries me with O'Conner. He has not recruited the portal well at UVA, but some of that could be they just don't have the NIL to compete.

    2. Erik Bakich-Think Cannizarro without the off the field issues. That is what Bakich brings to the table. He is an absolutely lights out recruiter and motivator. He has elevated the program wherever he has gone. He and Tim Corbin started the build at Vandy. He was the recruiting coordinator and recruited a lot of that talent that ended helping them win the CWS. He then took the Maryland job which was, without a doubt, one of the the worst baseball jobs in the P4. He elevated them every year and actually had a winning record his last year. He set them up for the success they now have had under John Szefc and Rob Vaughn. He then took the Michigan job and all he did was go to the CWS finals and the NCAAT 4 additional times. In his two years at Clemson he has hosted two straight regionals. He kind of got shafted in his first year by drawing Tennessee as the 2 and then ran up against the hottest team in the country in Florida last year in their Super. Bakich is not really beholden to any assistants so he may elect to hire a completely new staff here. He would probably be the most likely to keep Jake and Parker as assistants. The one concern with Bakich would be that he is a bit of a job hopper. Fortunately for us, I think we're a premier job. There's only 3-4 teams that could offer him what we could from a salary, facilities, and NIL standpoint.

    3. Dan Fitzgerald-This is the name that won't go away. He is really politicking hard for the job and has made overtures multiple times to let it be known he wants an interview when that time comes. If you want Dan Heefner and can't get him, this is probably the closest you can get to him from a baseball standpoint. He was with Heefner for 9 years at DBU and was the recruiting coordinator for all of those years. He then followed Wes Johnson, both were assistants at DBU, and went to LSU to be their recruiting coordinator Jay Johnson's first year in Baton Rouge. He now is at Kansas and they have improved every year including a rapid ascent this year that has had them in the hosting conversation most of the year. If you want the recruiting hire, this is probably the guy. He recruits at an extremely high level and works the portal extremely well. As far as assistants, he's the same as Bakich, I don't really think he is beholden to any assistants. The concern with Fitzgerald is that going from the Big12 to the SEC is not just one step up, but two or three. He obviously has been in the conference, but it's different when you're in the head chair. Is he ready for those wars every weekend.

    4. Mark Wasikowski-It seems his name has faded a bit since the start of this search, but I do know he definitely wants the job. And if he is your floor you have done a hell of a job in hiring. He has really built on what George Horton started at Oregon and has stabilized it to be one of the best programs on the West Coast. A lot of folks thought this would be the hire in 18 and he was really politicking hard for the job at the time. He definitely has an affinity for our job. He was great at Purdue before Oregon as well as he took them to their first NCAAT in 6 years and only the 3rd one in program history. He's been to the tournament every year at Oregon and has been to back to back Super Regionals. He has been in the SEC for just a little as he was with Andy Lopez his last 3 years at Florida. The obvious thing with him is that he's primarily been on the West Coast his whole coaching career so he has not recruited this part of the country much at all. Staff hires and recruiting coordinator will be the biggest things for him.


    I truly believe our next HC will be one of these 4 names. And if that is the case, then we have done a really good job. All 4 are sitting P4 HCs and all have really good resumes. I know a lot of people are uneasy about Fitzgerald because he is at Kansas, but the guy was with Dan Heefner for 9 years and everyone wanted Heefner when this thing started.

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    Senior Member StateDawg44's Avatar
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    I've done my best to not let myself get too excited about one candidate. It's hard not to feel let down if we don't get 1 or 2 though and that is very likely the outcome though if I had to bet on it.

    I'd be thrilled with 1&2. Home run hires if they happen and immediate impact.

    3&4 may be good coaches. I don't know much about them. But I'd still be in wait and see mode until SEC play next season with either of these unless they just went bonkers in the portal. Which we likely will need. Even then, they still have to put it together and put the right staff together.

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    Senior Member KOdawg1's Avatar
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    Call me delusional and optimistic, but I think we get O'Conner.

    The timing is right for him to make a move, he isn't getting what he wants financially from UVA, his buyout is only $500k... With revenue sharing becoming a thing, he knows he won't get as much money at UVA because they have other sports like soccer and lacrosse. And even though it's one down year, maybe he's seeing the writing on the wall there and realizes it's going to be much harder for him to win at a high level.

    All the ingredients are there to make this happen. Only hold up I can see would be A&M coming in and 17ing it up.

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    Senior Member Coursesuper's Avatar
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    Believing is easy, knowing is hard.

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    Senior Member StarkVegasSteve's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by KOdawg1 View Post
    Call me delusional and optimistic, but I think we get O'Conner.

    The timing is right for him to make a move, he isn't getting what he wants financially from UVA, his buyout is only $500k... With revenue sharing becoming a thing, he knows he won't get as much money at UVA because they have other sports like soccer and lacrosse. And even though it's one down year, maybe he's seeing the writing on the wall there and realizes it's going to be much harder for him to win at a high level.

    All the ingredients are there to make this happen. Only hold up I can see would be A&M coming in and 17ing it up.
    Or him deciding that he is happy making 7 figures with no stress at UVA rather than make the same salary here with fans ready to BBQ him on a grill in the outfield the first time we lose a non con game. I have said from the beginning that our job is an absolute pressure cooker and it takes a certain type of mindset to be able to live in that moment 24-7-365. The expectations do not match the trophy case and you do not know that until you are in it. Lemonis talked about that a lot his first year.

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    Senior Member KB21's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by StarkVegasSteve View Post
    Or him deciding that he is happy making 7 figures with no stress at UVA rather than make the same salary here with fans ready to BBQ him on a grill in the outfield the first time we lose a non con game. I have said from the beginning that our job is an absolute pressure cooker and it takes a certain type of mindset to be able to live in that moment 24-7-365. The expectations do not match the trophy case and you do not know that until you are in it. Lemonis talked about that a lot his first year.
    I think O'Connor's desire to win is still very strong.

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    Senior Member Coursesuper's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by StarkVegasSteve View Post
    Or him deciding that he is happy making 7 figures with no stress at UVA rather than make the same salary here with fans ready to BBQ him on a grill in the outfield the first time we lose a non con game. I have said from the beginning that our job is an absolute pressure cooker and it takes a certain type of mindset to be able to live in that moment 24-7-365. The expectations do not match the trophy case and you do not know that until you are in it. Lemonis talked about that a lot his first year.
    This is very true, this job is a monster and it is not for every coach out there. There are a lot of really great coaches out there that are not the right guy for us. Also coaches know exactly what our job is.

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    Senior Member StarkVegasSteve's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by KB21 View Post
    I think O'Connor's desire to win is still very strong.
    Of that I have no doubt. There are no coaches that do not have a desire to win. But this is not some rebuild that he is going to be given 2 years to get going. The expectation is Omaha from Day 1. Is he ready to be asked about Omaha every time he is out in public?

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    Senior Member KB21's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by StarkVegasSteve View Post
    Of that I have no doubt. There are no coaches that do not have a desire to win. But this is not some rebuild that he is going to be given 2 years to get going. The expectation is Omaha from Day 1. Is he ready to be asked about Omaha every time he is out in public?
    Honestly, I think our chance of getting him will be because his will to get to Omaha every year is bigger than the decision makers at UVA's will to get to Omaha every year. He made the comment after UVA's game the other night that if they don't get into the field, that it says a lot about their league as a whole.

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    Senior Member shoeless joe's Avatar
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    to me bakich would be my number 1 despite, as you mentioned, he's bounced around a bit. that could be him moving up the ladder quickly or it could be that he gets ancy and wants something new a lot. sure we can compete with almost anyone money wise but sometimes a rambler wants to ramble no matter what.

    i would not be disappointed with anyone on that list. fitz would be the most underwhelming but still a good hire IMO. being the most underwhelming from that list isn't a bad place to be.

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    Senior Member StarkVegasSteve's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by KB21 View Post
    Honestly, I think our chance of getting him will be because his will to get to Omaha every year is bigger than the decision makers at UVA's will to get to Omaha every year. He made the comment after UVA's game the other night that if they don't get into the field, that it says a lot about their league as a whole.
    And look, maybe all that is true. It's why I said he is the hot name and deservedly so. It will send shockwaves through the college baseball world if we are able to pull a sitting P4 national champion winning HC.

    And maybe he will be better in the portal here because the funding will be better. This is why I hate hiring coaches because the longer it goes the more you nitpick coaches. I just can't get the mismanagement of his pitching against us in 21 out of my head.

    There is just so much Cannizarro in Bakich, but he's mature. That's why I want him over O'Conner and I think why there is a push for him. But at the end of the day, NO ONE is going to be mad about hiring Brian O'Conner

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    Senior Member KB21's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by StarkVegasSteve View Post
    And look, maybe all that is true. It's why I said he is the hot name and deservedly so. It will send shockwaves through the college baseball world if we are able to pull a sitting P4 national champion winning HC.

    And maybe he will be better in the portal here because the funding will be better. This is why I hate hiring coaches because the longer it goes the more you nitpick coaches. I just can't get the mismanagement of his pitching against us in 21 out of my head.

    There is just so much Cannizarro in Bakich, but he's mature. That's why I want him over O'Conner and I think why there is a push for him. But at the end of the day, NO ONE is going to be mad about hiring Brian O'Conner
    Just as no one would be upset at hiring Bakich. I think when you compare resumes though, O'Connor clearly has the elite resume. I'd put Bakich in the "rising star" category. He doesn't quite have the post season success that O'Connor has had. Maybe this is the year he breaks through with Clemson and gets them to Omaha. In 15 seasons as a head coach (this year is his 16th), he has been to regional play 7 times. He has been to a super twice and Omaha once.

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    Senior Member msstate7's Avatar
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    If you can get BOC, you do it, period. Search over.

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    Senior Member StarkVegasSteve's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by KB21 View Post
    Just as no one would be upset at hiring Bakich. I think when you compare resumes though, O'Connor clearly has the elite resume. I'd put Bakich in the "rising star" category. He doesn't quite have the post season success that O'Connor has had. Maybe this is the year he breaks through with Clemson and gets them to Omaha. In 15 seasons as a head coach (this year is his 16th), he has been to regional play 7 times. He has been to a super twice and Omaha once.
    100%. O'Conner has one of the best resumes of anyone currently coaching in college baseball. I mean there's only 8 ACTIVE HCs who have won a national championship still coaching so to say you have one of those would be HUGE.

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    Great work! Thanks.

    BOC would be a grand-slam, but doubtful he?ll leave, he?s probably using interest in us as leverage.

    Any other the others will he home runs.

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    I just want to thank you Steve for such a good analysis you gave us on those 4 prospective coaches. Good job. Keep up the good work my friend.

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    Senior Member TNDawg35's Avatar
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    BOC or Bakich would grand slams. The more I read about Bakich, the more I would rather have him, but won’t be picky with either…

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    Talking about Waz. It’s wild to me that Supertalk Mississippi with Hadad and quite frankly Faulk with On3 thinks the coach will either be O’Connor or Waz. However, Steve is saying that we haven’t talked to Waz. There is a disconnect between sources somewhere. Another mod said, the agents could be talking to Waz agents.

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    Ever Been to Gloster?? cheewgumm's Avatar
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    Good stuff, thank you!

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    I hope you are right SVS but you are going to have to go to Willowbrook Psychiatric Ward if you aren?t.


    Intent be shocked if it is some no name we?ve never heard of. I?ll be disappointed but not shocked.
    Last edited by SPMT; 05-23-2025 at 05:06 PM.

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