So who will be our new pitching coach?

[Homedawg]

It is interesting that Jason Dietrich was a leading candidate for the Cal State Bakersfield head coaching job, and he pulled out of the running on August 26th. I think it is possible this has been in the works for quite some time.

Does he have ESP? He knew auburn was going to fire their coach, butch was going to get it, and we would come after him? Yea sure sounds like it

[defiantdog]

Does he have ESP? He knew auburn was going to fire their coach, butch was going to get it, and we would come after him? Yea sure sounds like it

Definitely in the works

[Homedawg]

On August 25? Talk about conspiracy theories. Wow. I'm not saying it's wrong. I'm saying that's total bullshit.

[Todd4State]

It's not easier to find someone that throws in the mid '90s that have control, command, and secondary pitches. Those guys tend to go pro out of high school. The majority of the power arms that do come to college have to develop a feel for pitching, either with their command and control similar to Dakota Hudson, or they have to develop secondary pitches. Jordan Sheffield for Vandy was a hard throwing kid out of high school who has been a spot starter and bull pen guy for them to this point because he doesn't have all the nuances of pitching.

What I want in a pitching coach is someone that can identify mechanical flaws that effect a pitcher's control, command, and even velocity to an extent. Throwing in the mid '90s is something that comes natural for some, and for others, you are screwing up their mechanics by asking them to try to throw that hard. There are a few that have some mechanical alterations that end up picking up a few ticks on their fastball. Others simply take a while to grow into their bodies.

I'm saying it's more difficult to find someone with Greg Maddux-esque movement. He was on another planet. We can find a lot of guys with Ross Mitchell movement.

Pitchers are throwing harder than ever and there are more pitchers throwing harder than ever every year. A lot of them are ending up in college. Heck, we have several guys that throw in the 90's right now on our staff as it is.

[Todd4State]

I believe one of his players Thomas Eshelman was my Astros 3rd pick this year ( # 46 overall ) threw over 100 innings this year with 17 walks. Fastball in the 90-92 range with impeccable control. I would take one of those on the MSU teams every third year or so.

I want all of our starting pitcher to be that.

One interesting thing I saw on his bio that stood out to me- he has a history of freshmen pitchers being productive. That was one thing I didn't like about Butch. We had to wait until a guys junior year before we saw major production.

[Todd4State]

Does he have ESP? He knew auburn was going to fire their coach, butch was going to get it, and we would come after him? Yea sure sounds like it

It may not be as far fetched as you think. Galloway was let go in late September about a month after August 26th. Auburn has been trying to get rid of him since 2014. He was fired for essentially having his players practice too long (NCAA violation) and also coincidentally got rid of the pitching coach that Galloway hired after getting rid of their other pitching coach and being sued by him.

Now, how long was Auburn investigating Galloway? I'm not sure. It could have certainly taken that long to get all of their i's dotted and t's crossed before dropping the axe.

And part of all of that probably included putting out feelers to potential candidates who would have been interested in the job- which is probably when Cohen found out and when we may have reached out to Dietrich.

May or may not have happened that way, but it's certainly possible.

[War Machine Dawg]

I want all of our starting pitcher to be that.

One interesting thing I saw on his bio that stood out to me- he has a history of freshmen pitchers being productive. That was one thing I didn't like about Butch. We had to wait until a guys junior year before we saw major production.

A-damn-men! Only getting 1 year out of our pitchers was bullshit.

[Homedawg]

It may not be as far fetched as you think. Galloway was let go in late September about a month after August 26th. Auburn has been trying to get rid of him since 2014. He was fired for essentially having his players practice too long (NCAA violation) and also coincidentally got rid of the pitching coach that Galloway hired after getting rid of their other pitching coach and being sued by him.

Now, how long was Auburn investigating Galloway? I'm not sure. It could have certainly taken that long to get all of their i's dotted and t's crossed before dropping the axe.

And part of all of that probably included putting out feelers to potential candidates who would have been interested in the job- which is probably when Cohen found out and when we may have reached out to Dietrich.

May or may not have happened that way, but it's certainly possible.

Ok whatever. It's not only not what happened it's what I said- total bullshit. Absurd. Stupid. What else???

[Todd4State]

Ok whatever. It's not only not what happened it's what I said- total bullshit. Absurd. Stupid. What else???

Again, I didn't say that was what happened. Just that it wasn't as far fetched as you said- word travels very quickly in baseball circles. If you know something more- then share it rather than call people stupid.

[Homedawg]

Again, I didn't say that was what happened. Just that it wasn't as far fetched as you said- word travels very quickly in baseball circles. If you know something more- then share it rather than call people stupid.

I don't have to tell you what I know. It wouldn't matter if I did. You would say it wasn't far fetched. To say john had this guy on his short list of butch ever left and had conversations prior- that would make sense. To say a guy got out of a head coaching search because he knew he was coming to here is just nuts. Sorry if that bothers u

[ScottH]

From a Assts Ready to be Head Coaches Post elsewhere - Dietrich and Dickinson - Butch was also on list

Jason Dietrich, Cal State Fullerton
Dietrich has been in the mix for the Cal State Bakersfield vacancy this summer, so his quest for a head coaching job could very well come to an end. However, for now, he?s still an assistant and he?s got one heck of a pedigree. Dietrich did one of the most impressive jobs of any coach this past season, guiding the Titans to plenty of success on the mound despite losing starting pitchers Justin Garza (injury) and Phil Bickford (to transfer). Dietrich is an excellent teacher and recently finished his third season with the Titans. In addition to his stint at Fullerton, Dietrich spent five seasons as UC Irvine?s pitching coach before joining Rick Vanderhook?s staff. Dietrich would be an excellent choice for anyone looking for an instant impact coach and excellent teacher.

Drew Dickinson, Illinois
The Fighting Illini had an outstanding 2015 season, and much of that is thanks to an excellent coaching staff. Though much of the talk this summer has been about hitting coach and recruiting coordinator Spencer Allen getting the Northwestern job, the Illini also have another outstanding assistant in pitching coach Drew Dickinson. Dickinson has done a terrific job with the Illinois pitching staff in his four seasons with the program, having several of the nation?s elite arms this past season, including lefthanders Kevin Duchene and Tyler Jay, among others. Dickinson is a very hard-nosed coach who demands excellence from his players, and he doesn?t hide that approach.

[CadaverDawg]

Just saw this on Twitter. Don't know how credible it is...

@CB_Daily: .@BFoley82 has confirmed that current @BaseballTitans PC Jason Dietrich will head to @HailStateBB as the PC replacing Butch Thompson #SEC

[Todd4State]

I don't have to tell you what I know. It wouldn't matter if I did. You would say it wasn't far fetched. To say john had this guy on his short list of butch ever left and had conversations prior- that would make sense. To say a guy got out of a head coaching search because he knew he was coming to here is just nuts. Sorry if that bothers u

In other words you don't know any more than anyone else on here. But feel free to call other people stupid, absurd, etc.

It doesn't bother me- just if you have something to add to the board share it rather than calling people stupid when you claim to know otherwise- yet you really never add any information to the contrary.

[Todd4State]

From a Assts Ready to be Head Coaches Post elsewhere - Dietrich and Dickinson - Butch was also on list

Jason Dietrich, Cal State Fullerton
Dietrich has been in the mix for the Cal State Bakersfield vacancy this summer, so his quest for a head coaching job could very well come to an end. However, for now, he?s still an assistant and he?s got one heck of a pedigree. Dietrich did one of the most impressive jobs of any coach this past season, guiding the Titans to plenty of success on the mound despite losing starting pitchers Justin Garza (injury) and Phil Bickford (to transfer). Dietrich is an excellent teacher and recently finished his third season with the Titans. In addition to his stint at Fullerton, Dietrich spent five seasons as UC Irvine?s pitching coach before joining Rick Vanderhook?s staff. Dietrich would be an excellent choice for anyone looking for an instant impact coach and excellent teacher.

Drew Dickinson, Illinois
The Fighting Illini had an outstanding 2015 season, and much of that is thanks to an excellent coaching staff. Though much of the talk this summer has been about hitting coach and recruiting coordinator Spencer Allen getting the Northwestern job, the Illini also have another outstanding assistant in pitching coach Drew Dickinson. Dickinson has done a terrific job with the Illinois pitching staff in his four seasons with the program, having several of the nation?s elite arms this past season, including lefthanders Kevin Duchene and Tyler Jay, among others. Dickinson is a very hard-nosed coach who demands excellence from his players, and he doesn?t hide that approach.

When Cal State Fullerton is looking for their next head baseball coach, they may very well go after Dietrich.

[ScottH]

Probably means zero other than give our resident baseball experts something to argue about:

Dietrich CSF ERA
13 2.47 SOS 44
14 2.24 SOS 47
15 2.89 SOS 14

Thompson MSU ERA
13 2.79 SOS 2
14 3.06 SOS 27
15 4.51 SOS 39

[Todd4State]

Probably means zero other than give our resident baseball experts something to argue about:

Dietrich CSF ERA
13 2.47 SOS 44
14 2.24 SOS 47
15 2.89 SOS 14

Thompson MSU ERA
13 2.79 SOS 2
14 3.06 SOS 27
15 4.51 SOS 39

Fullerton usually has a really strong pitching staff. And they usually play all of the really good West Coast teams like USC, UCLA, Long Beach State, Stanford, etc.

I will say that I thought Butch really mismanaged our pitching staff last year and it killed us. He should have had Hudson, Tatum , and Sexton start and then used Laster who was our best pitcher like we used Caleb Reed out of the bullpen along with Fitts and Houston. If we do that, I think we make a regional.

We'll see what Dietrich can do with our guys- but having a legit ace in Dakota Hudson helps a lot not to mention several veteran pitchers. Maybe he can even get the urban legend of Paul Young going as well.

[ScottH]

F
We'll see what Dietrich can do with our guys- but having a legit ace in Dakota Hudson helps a lot not to mention several veteran pitchers. Maybe he can even get the urban legend of Paul Young going as well.

Or find an immediately eligible closer needing a new home at Christmas break.

[CadaverDawg]

This is going to sound elementary...but I am hoping Dietrich will do a little less of the "outsmart you" stuff. Meaning, have our best 3 pitchers as Starters that are expected and prepared to go 6+ innings each outing. No bringing guys out with a 2-2 count to bring in our Center Fielder, or any of that shit. No piggy backing guys that have no business "starting", and asking them to "give us 1 time through the order". I want 3 solid weekend starters, but I also want a TRUE Ace. No more Friday starters that can't break a window pane, and have no strikeout pitches. And no more bullpens filled with head cases.

That may be too much to ask, but I think we'll see a lot of those issues disappear with our recent pitching talent upgrade, and the arrival of Dietrich.

And in no way am I saying Butch was bad...he wasn't. He was great. I'll be thrilled if Dietrich is better overall. That being said, I never felt comfortable about our starting pitching under Butch, and outside of Stratton, I never felt we had a real Ace. It just always left me with an uneasy feeling knowing we had to rely on piggy backing, a dominant bullpen, a strikeout with a new pitcher entering with a 2-2 count, etc. Butch did a helluva job making our staff elite when the talent wasn't that great....now I'm ready to see our better talent be used in a more traditional form to win games.

[MSUDawg4Life]

When Cal State Fullerton is looking for their next head baseball coach, they may very well go after Dietrich.

True, but in the meantime lets win some ball games.

I think a successful program would want its assistants moving on to be successful head coaches. I don't have a problem with talented assistants moving on at some point. That simply means we have quality assistants.

Congratulations to Coach Thompson, welcome to Starkville Coach Dietrich and go Dawgs!

[MsStateBaseball]

Dietrich may be here a couple of years so be it. Let's win big. CSF is known as a pitchers school, have been since late 70's.

We have what it takes to go to Omaha in 2016. Dietrich should squeeze all the talent out of the whole staff.