I can’t help but wonder what each of them are thinking right now. I mean if it wasn’t for Cannizaro then TA would not have been a Bulldog. So as much as people like to give him hell for his antics we did get TA out of the deal. Gary got a raw deal, but Lemonis was the right hire. Props to Gary for keeping the ship afloat though.
Andy Cannizaro and Gary Henderson
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Gray is a good dude, but if you've ever heard him being interviewed, you'll know he wasn't a fit for the number one baseball program in the country.
I'm sure Andy feels a tremendous sense of regret. He got one of the best jobs in college baseball in his 30's and now he's coaching high school ball in New Orleans while players he recruited were winning a national championship.
From what I know about Gary, I'm sure he's really happy for our team. I know he wanted the job badly, and you know what, if the 2018 team had fooled around and won 3 more games in Omaha, he may have gotten it. Long term it was not the right move for our program though. Gary and his family have gone through a ton in the last couple of years so I was really happy to hear that he got the head job at Utah. Would love nothing more than to schedule a home series against them so that we can honor Gary at Dudy Noble one more time.
From what I know about Gary, I'm sure he's really happy for our team. I know he wanted the job badly, and you know what, if the 2018 team had fooled around and won 3 more games in Omaha, he may have gotten it. Long term it was not the right move for our program though. Gary and his family have gone through a ton in the last couple of years so I was really happy to hear that he got the head job at Utah. Would love nothing more than to schedule a home series against them so that we can honor Gary at Dudy Noble one more time.
Heard Canz was a finalist for the Nichols State baseball job a few weeks ago but nothing since and they still haven't hired anyone according to their website, or at least they haven't announced it
D1 reported rumors that Cann declined the offer.
Looks like he's waiting for a bigger school to come calling.
Looks like he's waiting for a bigger school to come calling.
Yeah, but have you seen the hotty who works in the front office? He couldn't pass that gig up.
Apples and oranges for sure.
Canizzaro messed it up and can only blame himself.
Henderson deserves a ton of respect and I think he mostly gets it. I understand why he wasn't hired as the head coach, sort of... But you certainly can't argue with the results.
Canizzaro messed it up and can only blame himself.
Henderson deserves a ton of respect and I think he mostly gets it. I understand why he wasn't hired as the head coach, sort of... But you certainly can't argue with the results.
A friend of mine suggested that the whole "Cann high school coach in new Orleans redemption story" was a setup to bring him back to LSU. I thought it made sense. That would be a nightmare
Once you go strange you never go back. And if you have to give up the strange.... well, you're coaching career goes in the tank.
Exactly. When you are making in the $500k range and you already are worth a couple mil (thanks MLB), you have to try out every six in your building.
Hopefully, her version of a Leigh Ann does not jump into this thread.
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Well, it didn't work then since LSU hired the Arizona coach. Cannizaro should have taken the Nichols St. job if it was really offered to him. He'll never get a big time job immediately coming off the scandal. Nichols is a mid-table Southland team historically. If you're good, you can win enough there to get a bigger job. Might need an intermediate job after Nichols to move to a really big time school, but it could be done. Bottom line is, he's not likely to get a much bigger job offer any time soon.
Henderson couldn't cut it at UK. I love him to death but he wasn't the right hire. Cohen got the right guy.
You don’t hand this job over to anyone without a national search. Henderson worked some magic in 2018 but I’d have been disappointed if he was the hire. I appreciate what he did and wish him all the success he deserves.
Well, Jay Johnson has hired his two paid assistant coaches and recruiting coordinator. There's still an unpaid coaching position to fill, but it he turned Nichols St. down for an unpaid job, his decision making skills haven't really improved much from when he was at MSU.
Not this again. Gary did provide a much needed calming effect on what had become a circus under Cann. But he did not get a raw deal and was most assuredly not the right guy for our job going forward.
Gary is a good coach in the right situation...those being as an assistant at an elite program or HC at one with far less pressure and without the crushing expectations of programs like ours.
Gary was paid a very nice salary and was given a bonus. Just as significant, he was given a free pass on that year's expectations. In other words, he did not have any pressure put on him because he could not be held accountable for what Cann had caused.
Another significant factor is the incredible leadership and character we had on the squad, particularly Jake Mangum.
It is easy to "wax fondly" about that year and just gloss over some of the negatives. It's also too tempting to deny the negatives when you really like and appreciate the man, and feel for the pain he had had to endure with his family.
But being a great guy and a good coach does not preclude the need for a deep dive into his coaching history and also to what actually happened that year.
The fact is, Gary made several poor on field HC decisions that year that did contribute to losing games or where saved by players overcoming some mistakes. We needed a near miraculous run at the end to even make the SECT. If you look at what really happened in that late season tear, a huge part was Eli suddenly getting red hot at the plate. Eli and Jake truly stepped up on and off the field.
Kudos to Gary for being the calming, fatherly influence we needed that year, and to the IB for realizing he had to be anything but intense with our team that year...allowing our team to just go out and play without the usual pressure of high expectations.
But also kudos to JC for not allowing sentiment and "feelings" to cloud his judgement.
I am as happy for Gary as anyone and as appreciative for what he did overall. He's where he needs to be...at a program that doesn't have anywhere near the soul-crushing pressure he himself admitted caused him to resign as HC at UK. Had he gotten our job with the usual pressure it would not have been good for us or Gary.
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He should jump at just about any D1 job he can get. No decent program is hiring from high school with his track record.
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