National Head Coach Search Options

[Shoxing Me Softly]

I’m sorry but isn’t Wichita State now basically a northern baseball team in an otherwise sunny conference. Also using the PAC as an excuse for not winning is lame. Can’t wait to hear how hard it is to get a bid out of the AAC.

The fact remains that whatever issues he had with Hibbs. You can’t possibly argue any of them were addressed with this hire. Except maybe Saal needed a “bro” to hang with.

[WstateU]

I've been around the block a few times and a little humor keeps me sane. I'm an 'optimist' and it's served me well for decades...

[Rockies Dad]

Regarding my son, thank you. He has worked very hard. As far as facilities go, Washington State opened a new $10 million or so self contained baseball facility while my son was there. While it's not a palace like you see at many SEC or ACC or Big 12 schools, it's a new facility that is on par with most pac 12 facilities. When Green first got there, that facility did not exist and their facilities were sub par. You will find Green to be very high energy and he will become part of the community. He is very into culture building. Can get a little "rah rah" at times, but players will need to buy into it if they want to get along with the staff. Not saying that's a good thing or a bad thing. Some people like that, some people don't. I would not get into details about Coach Green's coaching abilities because I am not a coach and those opinions are very subjective. I think there are plusses and minuses there. The pitching was bad when my son was there and it didn't really get better. I don't know much about Wichita State's current baseball setup, but i would say that if your facilities and university support for the baseball program are solid, there is potential for the hire to work out.

[Rockies Dad]

And I wasn't suggesting that being in the Pac12 was an excuse for not winning. My point there was Washington State is a tough place to Coach. If you have ever been to Pullman, WA you would know what I was talking about.

[shox1989]

I will use this thread to try and put forward some options for our next head coach. Most of these coaches will not have WSU ties, as all of us seem very aware of those options. I am going to try to focus on coaches that have led a college baseball program as a head coach, and have demonstrated a level of success (especially consistent and preferably recent success).

Please feel free to add additional options, or add greater context to my posts. This was quickly thrown together this morning. Some of these coaches may not be super interested in coming to WSU, but I think being in the AAC, our facilities, and our potential resources (salary) would make a move to Wichita State a step up in these coaches careers.



Justin Haire - Campbell University

9 seasons. Overall record: 284-188.

Regional appearances: 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, and 2023.

Salary: N/A


Haire has built Campbell into a powerhouse in the SoCon. He would be a slam dunk hire, though it would likely be difficult to lure him away from the program he has built. Also, I imagine that many programs will be seeking his services this offseason. With Campbell being a private school, I wasn't able to find information on his salary. We should definitely give him a call, though.

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Alex Sogard - Wright State University

5 seasons. Overall record: 165-89.

Regional appearances: 2021, 2022, and 2023.

Salary: Need an update. Reported salary of $65,191 in 2018. Let’s assume in the range of $80-100k today.


Sogard is another great candidate. Wright State has won the Horizon League every year that he has been head coach, 4 times total. He has only coached 4 full seasons at Wright State, due to the Covid season. His teams have made the NCAA Tournament three years in a row. He has gone all the way through a four year recruiting cycle, and the program continues to be successful.

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Mitch Hannahs - Indiana State University

10 seasons. Overall record: 308-196.

Regional appearances: 2014, 2019, 2021, and 2023.

Salary: Reported number in 2021 was $127,934. Let’s assume that it is in the $140-150,000 range.


Hannahs has the Sycamore program trending in a solid direction. They have been to the NCAA Tournament 3 of the past 4 years (2020), and are hosting a regional this year. He has been above .500 every year as head coach, and taken ISU to 4 of the 12 regional appearances in their programs history.

I liked watching Mitch Hannahs when he was a player at Indy St. He was very good and gave it his all. As I recall he helped get them to Omaha one year. But that was a long time ago and my memory is a little shaky. But I do remember being impressed with him every time they played WSU.

[Ashockalypse]

National Search = call my friend

[SubGod22]

[ShockerExpress]

FWIW - Taylor just deleted a tweet talking about how Green was expected to be hired, but was not finalized yet.

Perhaps this means it’s finalized.

[Rockies Dad]

Green already had a zoom call with his team telling them he was going to Wichita State and the Washington State Athletic Director already posted a message on Twitter thanking him for what he did and wishing him luck at his new job. It's a done deal.

[BostonWu]

Green already had a zoom call with his team telling them he was going to Wichita State and the Washington State Athletic Director already posted a message on Twitter thanking him for what he did and wishing him luck at his new job. It's a done deal.

[Shock Top]

If Pelf stays, does that change people's opinons at all?

Sounds like Green's teams have good offenses. Pelf can help with the pitching.

Green can bring a new and fresh perspective. Pelf keeps the connections to the glory days.



Not saying it would turn it into a home run hire, but would it be one people/supporters can get behind?

[wheathead]

Man, I remember that day so vividly. That was so crazy.

[wheathead]

I was just thinking (sorry not related post here!!) what would the memorabilia market value be on that Sooner jersey that Stephenson put on at the press conference. It's gotta have some value just because of the story around it. I wonder if Gene threw it out the window on I-35 heading back north to Wichita. Where did that thing end up?

[ShockerFever]

If Pelf stays, does that change people's opinons at all?

Sounds like Green's teams have good offenses. Pelf can help with the pitching.

Green can bring a new and fresh perspective. Pelf keeps the connections to the glory days.



Not saying it would turn it into a home run hire, but would it be one people/supporters can get behind?

Pelfrey hasn’t exactly been lighting the pitching statistics up. He improved this year but still leaves a lot to be desired.

[ShockerFever]

Also, may need to amend the thread title. In no way shape or form was this a “national” search.