polish
06-17-2005, 08:55 AM
http://graphics.fansonly.com/photos/schools/nd/sport/m-basebl/99action/postseason/calstate/s-horton.gifWho's the New Coach
Here is a breakdown of all the Candidates
Who will be the next head coach of Aggie Baseball? There is only one answer we can give for certain; it won’t be Mark Johnson and mostly likely no Aggiefans poster. The Aggies have missed on a few big targets, but there are plenty of great coaches out there. The ones the Aggies we likely not get include Ray Tanner from the USC Gamecocks, Georgia Tech’s Danny Hall, and Arkansas’s Dave Van Horn.
The question begs to be asked, who is left? Well there are many fine candidates.
First up is Mike Bianco from Ole Miss. Ole Miss has never been a power house of baseball, but he has turned the program around in 5 years to a consistently winning baseball team. Entering the 2005 season, Bianco produced a 150-90-1 record. The 150 wins are the most in any four-year period in school history. Mr. Bianco’s tenure at Ole Miss has seen top-10 rankings, nationally-ranked recruiting classes and two players being selected to the USA National Team. Bianco turned around the fortunes of the Ole Miss program, just as he had done with the McNeese State program previously. He has gained national attention for his reputation as a program builder. He would take the job basically because he could rebuild a team that has the foundations to be great. The problem here is he is an LSU grad and would probably leave if LSU opened up. I’d say the odds are 2/5
The second candidate is Rob Childress. He is Nebraska’s Associate Head Coach, Recruiting Coordinator, and was/is their Pitching coach. He is one of those guys that everybody knows is going to leave for Head Coaching job sooner or later. He also has a relationship with former Nebraska AD, and current A&M AD Bill Byrne. Many speculate that Childress may be at the top of the list right now. After reading up on him, he seems to be one of the top recruiters in the country. The main reason he would consider A&M is he would be getting his first head coaching job. His odds are probably 3/5
Now for the third candidate, it’s Wayne Graham. He coached great programs at San Jacinto Junior College and Rice and has six former players in the MLB right now (Including the Astros: Berkman, Clemens, and Pettitte). He’s led the Owls to 10 NCAA regionals, four super regionals and four trips to the College World Series, and the school’s first team national championship in 2003. One problem here is his Rice is a Rice grad and he is a Longhorn. If Graham came however he would most likely bring at least one great assistant to take over for him in around five years. I don’t see any reason why Graham would leave, unless he wants one last payday.
Odds are 2/5
Next, is Rick Jones is the Head Coach of the Tulane Green Wave. Since taking over as head coach in 1994, Jones has led Tulane to the NCAA Regionals in nine of his 11 seasons, including a school-record seven consecutive trips dating back to 1998, a pair of Super Regional appearances and a trip to the College World Series in 2001. Jones has tallied a 467-225-1 record the Green Wave over his head coaching career at Tulane. He is a guy who loves to delegate things and he always hires great assistants to do this with; these former assistants would include Brian Cleary at Cincinnati, Jim Schlossnagle at TCU, Buddy Gouldsmith at UNLV, Rob Cooper at Wright State. Odds are 1/5
The Last candidate I know about is George Horton, who coaches and graduated from Cal State Fullerton. Horton was recently rumored to not be interested, but the AD has just recently given permission to talk to Horton, and rumors now abound once again as to whether or not he is interested. Since Fullerton first CWS appearance under Horton in 1999, they have become a fearsome team on the field. Last year was Horton first National Championship as a Head Coach, and ironically he beat his mentor Augie Garrido of Texas University. The reason he would leave is to get to a team with a larger fan base, bigger stadium, and more money, but he as built a dynasty where he is at.
Odds are 3/5
So the question is who will be the new coach? I have no idea, but hopefully this gave everyone some idea of who we are looking at.
Here is a breakdown of all the Candidates
Who will be the next head coach of Aggie Baseball? There is only one answer we can give for certain; it won’t be Mark Johnson and mostly likely no Aggiefans poster. The Aggies have missed on a few big targets, but there are plenty of great coaches out there. The ones the Aggies we likely not get include Ray Tanner from the USC Gamecocks, Georgia Tech’s Danny Hall, and Arkansas’s Dave Van Horn.
The question begs to be asked, who is left? Well there are many fine candidates.
First up is Mike Bianco from Ole Miss. Ole Miss has never been a power house of baseball, but he has turned the program around in 5 years to a consistently winning baseball team. Entering the 2005 season, Bianco produced a 150-90-1 record. The 150 wins are the most in any four-year period in school history. Mr. Bianco’s tenure at Ole Miss has seen top-10 rankings, nationally-ranked recruiting classes and two players being selected to the USA National Team. Bianco turned around the fortunes of the Ole Miss program, just as he had done with the McNeese State program previously. He has gained national attention for his reputation as a program builder. He would take the job basically because he could rebuild a team that has the foundations to be great. The problem here is he is an LSU grad and would probably leave if LSU opened up. I’d say the odds are 2/5
The second candidate is Rob Childress. He is Nebraska’s Associate Head Coach, Recruiting Coordinator, and was/is their Pitching coach. He is one of those guys that everybody knows is going to leave for Head Coaching job sooner or later. He also has a relationship with former Nebraska AD, and current A&M AD Bill Byrne. Many speculate that Childress may be at the top of the list right now. After reading up on him, he seems to be one of the top recruiters in the country. The main reason he would consider A&M is he would be getting his first head coaching job. His odds are probably 3/5
Now for the third candidate, it’s Wayne Graham. He coached great programs at San Jacinto Junior College and Rice and has six former players in the MLB right now (Including the Astros: Berkman, Clemens, and Pettitte). He’s led the Owls to 10 NCAA regionals, four super regionals and four trips to the College World Series, and the school’s first team national championship in 2003. One problem here is his Rice is a Rice grad and he is a Longhorn. If Graham came however he would most likely bring at least one great assistant to take over for him in around five years. I don’t see any reason why Graham would leave, unless he wants one last payday.
Odds are 2/5
Next, is Rick Jones is the Head Coach of the Tulane Green Wave. Since taking over as head coach in 1994, Jones has led Tulane to the NCAA Regionals in nine of his 11 seasons, including a school-record seven consecutive trips dating back to 1998, a pair of Super Regional appearances and a trip to the College World Series in 2001. Jones has tallied a 467-225-1 record the Green Wave over his head coaching career at Tulane. He is a guy who loves to delegate things and he always hires great assistants to do this with; these former assistants would include Brian Cleary at Cincinnati, Jim Schlossnagle at TCU, Buddy Gouldsmith at UNLV, Rob Cooper at Wright State. Odds are 1/5
The Last candidate I know about is George Horton, who coaches and graduated from Cal State Fullerton. Horton was recently rumored to not be interested, but the AD has just recently given permission to talk to Horton, and rumors now abound once again as to whether or not he is interested. Since Fullerton first CWS appearance under Horton in 1999, they have become a fearsome team on the field. Last year was Horton first National Championship as a Head Coach, and ironically he beat his mentor Augie Garrido of Texas University. The reason he would leave is to get to a team with a larger fan base, bigger stadium, and more money, but he as built a dynasty where he is at.
Odds are 3/5
So the question is who will be the new coach? I have no idea, but hopefully this gave everyone some idea of who we are looking at.