MSU Baseball Coaching Search, Revisited (Germans?)

[Rockydawg]

I know many of us (myself included) were a bit disappointed in the announcement of Chris Lemonis as head coach, considering some of the other names that were out there out there. In retrospect, how do you feel now?

Dan McDonnell- 14 years as Louisville head coach
Finished 1st in ACC with a record of 28-22
Losses to Western Illinois and Morehead State
Series loss to Ga Tech
Split 2 games with ND
Swept NC State
Swept by N. Carolina, Clemson, and Miami
#20 recruiting class of 2020
#7 recruiting class of 2021
#3 recruiting class of 2022

Jim Schlossnagle- 17 years as TCU head coach
Tied for 1st in Big 12 with record of 41-19
Losses to Sam Houston and Texas State
Series losses to Gonzaga, Texas tech, Texas, ULM, and K-State
Won Big 12 Tournament
Lost 2 in their own regional
#9 recruiting class of 2020
#11 recruiting class of 2021
#15 recruiting class of 2022

Cliff Godwin- 6 years as ECU head coach
44-17 record
Losses to Georgia Southern, Old Dominion, and UNCW
Series loss to UCF
Split with Wichita State
Split with USF
Lost league tournament to UCF
Swept their regional
Swept by Vanderbilt in Super-regional
#37 recruiting class of 2020
#50 Recruiting class of 2021
#40 recruiting class of 2022

I know there are more stats that can provide an even more refined perspective, but this is all I have time for at the moment.

 

[Willow Grove Dawg]

I feel really good about the hire given the data available to us currently, but considering the college baseball recruiting cycle - this is a debate for 2023 or even 2024.

 

[DAWGS1.sixpack]

Recruiting to E Carolina is Not like recruiting to TCU or Louisville or MS State. I think Godwin is a good coach given the talent he gets but I’m very OK with Lemonis and glad to have him.

 

[MSUDC11]

We'll never know how it would have played out, but it's probably a safe assumption that any of those guys would have done well given that each of them is a very good coach we have had a good roster situation. That said, Lemonis is well on his way to building a similar resume to McDonnell and Schlossnagle, and he's probably passed Godwin at this point.

The more interesting question to me is what do the last few years look like if Cohen is never offered the AD job?

 

[patdog]

At the time, it was an underwhelming hire, and the search was a cluster-17. In hindsight, Cohen did a great job of bouncing back from a couple of early missteps & made an outstanding hire.

 

[karlchilders.sixpack]

I was not remotely disappointed with Lemonis

I saw what he was able to do at Indiana, While he was still there.

The guy can coach.

 

[engie]

Recruiting to E Carolina is Not like recruiting to TCU or Louisville or MS State. I think Godwin is a good coach given the talent he gets but I’m very OK with Lemonis and glad to have him.

That's just the thing -- recruiting at TCU and Louisville are both thought of differently largely on the success of those two coaches. Both of them made their hay at those schools while those schools were very much on equal footing with East Carolina. Obviously there were bigger things at work with realignment and the situations drastically improved for both TCU and Louisville. But that's not how the hay was made.

 

[Walter White.sixpack]

Cliff Godwin- 6 years as ECU head coach
44-17 record

The Rebel Grove guys contend that Godwin was offered & turned down the MSU job by Cohen (in the living room).

 

[messageboardsuperhero]

The search was largely viewed as mishandled and disappointing because of the expectations Cohen set in the media. That was his mistake.

In hindsight and looking at his resume, it should have always been considered a good hire. If Cohen hadn’t run his mouth for months, people would have been more excited about Lemonis at the time.

It’s hard to say for sure until a few more years down the road, but Lemonis is on his way to having a McDonnell/Schlossnagle resume. So by now the whole discussion is basically a moot point, because it looks like we did end up getting an elite coach after all.

 

[Bill Shankly]

The Rebel Grove guys contend that Godwin was offered & turned down the MSU job by Cohen (in the living room).

Of course they do. Why even pay attention to what they say?

 

[Russ Wheeler]

The more interesting question to me is what do the last few years look like if Cohen is never offered the AD job?

Sometimes I think Cohen was about to lose the program back after 2016. When we sucked in 2015, he had to scramble to make things happen for the next season. Of course it's apparent now that he had kinda lost the fire for coaching and wanted to get into administration. Even still, I think we'd have been alright. We signed the Mangum class in 2015 so that would have carried us for a little while. Who knows at this point, coaching is a lot about energy level (have to have that for recruiting and accountability).

 

[maroonmania]

At the time, it was an underwhelming hire, and the search was a cluster-17. In hindsight, Cohen did a great job of bouncing back from a couple of early missteps & made an outstanding hire.

Yep, being honest we actually seem to do a better job hiring when Cohen does NOT get his first choice. Lemonis has been by far the best of Cohen's hires.