I see that Miss State just hired away the TCU coach and he was very successful at TCU. The Louisville coach was reportedly also considered for that job.
I know we are not a traditional baseball power, but now that we are in the ACC it would seem that might help with attracting a proven coach.
Just has to be the right coach-- one who thrives on the challenges of competing and instills an aggressive aggressive attitude and style of play. Murphy certainly wasn't a "proven" entity when hired and he resurrected a floundering program...manieri had record similar to Aoki but thrived in the position and built upon program success...just takes the right guy and right style
Craig Biggio.
He is independently wealthy so money is not necessarily an issue. He coached St. Thomas High in Houston to a state championship. His sons played at Notre Dame. His daughter has committed to play softball at Notre Dame. He would be a splash hire and hopefully could relate to recruits and parents. He was a tireless worker as a player and has Hall of Fame credentials. He also could attract a competent staff.
Just has to be the right coach-- one who thrives on the challenges of competing and instills an aggressive aggressive attitude and style of play. Murphy certainly wasn't a "proven" entity when hired and he resurrected a floundering program...manieri had record similar to Aoki but thrived in the position and built upon program success...just takes the right guy and right style
Similarities:
- Bottom-dweller in a tough conference.
- Very little "local" talent.
- Very little fan support.
- Very little historical success (two CWS appearances ever...and just one in last 50 years).
- Not many active pros (just five grads in MLB right now).
- High-cost institution (big factor considering lack of full scholarships).
Add to that:
- Bad geography for baseball.
- Lots of long trips to conference foes.
Unless we're ready to go BIG on salary, I'm not sure why a proven* coach would want the job.
* I suppose this depends on your definition of "proven". However, if East Carolina coach Cliff Godwin qualifies, I think he's already in a better spot from a resources/support perspective. Should he leave East Carolina, I think he can do better than ND.
utilize a lot of needs based scholarships for baseball players to up the portion of tuition that is covered.
Do we take advantage of that in baseball?
Even at a place like Texas with a terrific history in baseball, there is a feeling that they are at a disadvantage vs some state schools.
from a Texas board.
Also take a look at the link for a good article on how to stretch scholarship dollars in baseball.
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At a school like Texas, the roster is made up of 35 players of those, 27 are on a scholarship(at least .25 of a scholarship), the other 8, are preferred walk ons. That means those are 8 are paying the full tuition, room and board just to play baseball at the University of Texas.
This is where school like Texas are hampered(Might not be the best term to use here) when it comes to recruiting in College Baseball, compared to other D1 Schools.
Take a look at Public Universities from Louisiana and Georgia, Maybe Florida(I need to double check). But places like Georgia and LSU, if you graduate high school from those states, then you get assistance when you attend those Universities.
So, places like LSU and Georgia could easily have 15-18 Scholarships to give out to their players, 11.7(Baseball Scholarship) plus what their state gives out.
Then you have places like Vanderbilt who could have 20+ on scholarship, 11.7 plus need base. That is why you will see Vanderbilt with a large recruiting class every year.
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Also from another board on how state scholarships help the baseball programs.
In South Carolina we have the education lottery. If you are a good but not even a great student you can qualify for the life scholarship and if a better student the Palmetto scholarship. If they graduate with a 3.0 with legit courses and get 1100 SAT score or 24 ACT, they get $5,000 going up to $7,500 jr and sr. yr. Palmetto scholarship is $10,000 with a 3.5 GPA and 27 ACT or 1200 SAT. Many of the good hs baseball players are decent students and can go to these schools with a good aid package outside of athletic scholarship and save scholarship money for lesser students and out of state. thus we have 4 top 25 programs: USC, Clemson, College of Charleston, and Coastal Carolina living off a very good high school baseball base within the state.
The baseball program is the right coach away from having success...look at vandy for instance-- very little historical success before Corbin arrived and perennial power since. Of course their faculty is much nicer and they have better weather but other similarities are there. In addition they must be doing something with financial aid to overcome the high sticker price and have depth in there roster. Overall the school, I believe, has a more generous financial aid culture than does ND, despite having an endowment which is less than half as much
on the head. Couldn't have said it any better.
I'm more concerned;however, with person doing the hiring not understanding baseball well enough to know who would make the right fit as HC.
This is when or if, of course. Godwin would be a great choice but he is going to have better opportunities if he wants them and if he is patient. I heard Brian O'Connor once say: The Head Coach job I take must be located in a state that that is talent rich in order to build the base of my team. Or words to that effect. Virginia and NC are talent rich states the last time I looked.