TEXAS BASEBALL COACHING HOT BOARD
All things come to an end, and today Texas announced that the Augie Garrido era is officially over. The legendary head coach that’s the all-time winningest coach in college baseball accepted a new role within the Texas athletic department as a special assistant to the Athletic Director.
Fortunately for the Longhorns, Garrido met the highest of expectations during an outstanding 20-year career, and he leaves the program the way he inherited it – as arguably
the program in all of college baseball. So now comes the next question for the Texas decision-makers: Who will replace the coaching icon?
The Orangebloods.com Baseball Coach Hot Board begins with who we think is the top name to watch right now. But he’s not the only name to follow.
Note: Garrido was scheduled to make $1.04 million in 2017.
Another note: To try to add some consistency and a scale, chances can either be good, solid, decent, or poor.
Kevin O'Sullivan has routinely taken Florida to the College World Series.
Kevin O’Sullivan – Florida Gators head coachHis story:The 47-year-old head coach of the Florida Gators, who have been ranked No. 1 for a chunk of the season, has turned what was a struggling program into a SEC power. Prior to that, O’Sullivan, who is regarded as a brilliant pitching coach, spent nine seasons under Jack Leggett at Clemson where he was the pitching coach and recruiting coordinator before becoming the associate head coach.
He was hired at Florida prior to the 2008 season, and since then Florida has been to the College World Series four times (runner-up in 2011), has won the SEC regular season three times and the SEC Tournament twice, has been to the NCAA postseason every season after Florida failed to make it the two years prior to his hire, and Florida is currently 391-185 (171-98 in SEC play) under O’Sullivan’s lead.
Back to the pitching prowess, O’Sullivan has coached 74 pitchers that have been drafted or signed a professional contract, and that includes 10 All-Americans, and six first-round picks. Overall, O’Sullivan has coached 61 draft picks at Florida, including Florida’s first-ever Golden Spikes Award winner and Dick Howser Trophy winner catcher Mike Zunino. During the last five MLB Drafts, nine Gators were selected in the top five rounds. This year, Florida pitcher A.J. Puk is projected to be the No. 1 overall pick and players like outfielder Buddy Reed, and pitcher Logan Shore could be first-round selections also.
The chances he’d make the move to Texas are…Good. Not only would it be a jump in salary (
a published 2015 report stated O’Sullivan makes $594,000 in base salary) and prestige, but the Texas fan base takes its baseball seriously, which is something that doesn’t completely apply to the Gators. If he made the move to Texas, O’Sullivan would be making a jump from what’s now a good job, because of him, to a great one that would offer an elevation to all the baseball areas he’s involved in now.
Corbin and Vanderbilt beat Texas in Omaha on their way to the 2014 National Championship.
Tim Corbin – Vanderbilt Commodores head coach His story:Like O’Sullivan, Corbin spent years at Clemson as an assistant coach before turning a SEC program into a powerhouse. In fact, Corbin and O’Sullivan were at Clemson together from 1999-2002; Corbin, after serving as head coach at Presbyterian for five seasons, coached at Clemson from 1994-2002 before taking the Vanderbilt head coaching position prior to the 2003 season. Clemson went to the College World Series four times while he was there, including twice when O’Sullivan was on the staff as well.
Prior to Corbin’s arrival, the Commodores had just three NCAA Tournament appearances ever, three conference championships, one conference tournament victory and zero College World Series appearances. The 54-year-old head coach led Vanderbilt to the tournament in 2004 in his second season and after missing the postseason in 2005, Vanderbilt has played postseason baseball every year since. As Texas fans painfully know, Vanderbilt won the College World Series in 2014. The following season, Corbin led his team back to Omaha and finished runner-up to Virginia, who it beat the prior season. Corbin has taken the Commodores to the College World Series three times, and has six super regional appearances among his 13 completed seasons.
Producing elite talent is a strength of Corbin’s. He’s coached two No. 1 overall picks (pitcher David Price in 2007, shortstop Dansby Swanson 2015), and 14 first-round selections, including three this past draft (Swanson, pitcher Carson Fulmer, and pitcher Walker Buehler). Vanderbilt set a school and SEC record when it had 12 players selected during the 2011 MLB Draft.
The chances he’d make the move to Texas are…??? Although Vanderbilt isn’t on the level of programs like Texas when it comes to history, following, and things like that, Corbin has turned it into a national power. And thanks to Vanderbilt’s private school status and scholarships available, Corbin is able to recruit like he has noticeably more than 11.7 scholarships. So if you’re wondering why Vanderbilt gets guys like Tyler Beede, Sonny Gray, and Jordan Sheffield on campus, it helps when they can get close to or full scholarships, which is rare at other programs. So, he has a pretty good gig right now, and has proven he can not only compete at an elite level, but also that he can win it all at Vanderbilt.
A few months ago, Corbin would have been the one guy on the list that was likely unattainable because of the cushy situation he’s in. However, recent chatter around the country indicates he wouldn’t immediately hang up the phone, and that there would be a level of intrigue in the Texas job. How much intrigue? That’s tough to say at the moment.
After losing to Corbin and Vanderbilt in 2014, O'Connor and Virginia got revenge in 2015.
Brian O’Connor – Virginia Cavaliers head coach His story:A year after finishing runner-up to Corbin and Vanderbilt at the 2014 College World Series, O’Connor and Virginia avenged their defeat by beating Vanderbilt to win it all the following season.
Immediately upon arrival, O’Connor, who is 45 years old, elevated the Virginia program, and has taken it to the NCAA Postseason every season he’s been in Charlottesville since he was hired prior to the 2004 campaign. Virginia had just three postseason appearances and one conference and conference tournament championship before the O’Connor era. O’Connor broke through and made it to Omaha in 2009, and since that season Virginia has played in Omaha three more times, and made it to a super regional in two out of the other three seasons.
During the past six seasons, 39 Virginia players have been drafted, and overall the number is 66 under O’Connor. Since he took over at Virginia seven Cavaliers were selected in the first round of the MLB Draft, including three in 2014.
O’Connor, who played at Creighton and is from Council Bluffs, Iowa just outside of Omaha, spent nine seasons (1995-2003) at Notre Dame as an assistant under now LSU head coach Paul Mainieri before being hired at Virginia. He spent 1993-1995 at Creighton as the team’s pitching coach.
The chances he’d make the move to Texas are…solid. While Virginia has done a good job over recent years of pouring some money into solid facilities, those still aren’t quite up to the level of Texas’. And it has done a good job of showing O’Connor the money.
Prior to the 2015 season, O’Connor inked a seven-year extension that paid him at least $600,000 that season ($225,000 base salary, $375,000 supplemental pay, performance bonuses). The contract also includes eligibility each season for five-percent increases in base and supplemental pay. But again, that’s not quite up to the level Texas would pay him. Plus, like O’Sullivan, the move would mean an increase in areas like fan interest and prestige and would present a new, different challenge.
Interestingly, O’Connor receives $250,000,
per reports, if he is still Virginia’s coach on June 15th of this year, and owes Virginia $400,000 if he leaves before the 2021 season.
McDonnell and Louisville are the No. 2 national seed in this year's tournament behind Florida.
Dan McDonnell – Louisville Cardinals head coach His story:During his first season at Louisville in 2007, McDonnell led the Cardinals to the College World Series. Since then, the former assistant at Ole Miss (2001-2006) and The Citadel (1993-2000) returned to the College World series two other times, and has reached a super regional twice as well during his eight completed seasons. Louisville has missed the NCAA Tournament just once under his guide.
Known for an aggressive style on offense that puts players in motion and leads to high run-scoring totals, McDonnell won the ACC regular season Atlantic Division championship (set a record with a 25-5 conference regular season record in 2015) back-to-back seasons, which were Louisville’s first two in the conference. Prior to that, Louisville dominated the Big East. Under McDonnell, 43 Louisville players have signed MLB contracts or have been drafted, and it has produced five conference pitchers of the year and three conference players of the year.
The chances he’d make the move to Texas are…tough to project at the moment, but they’re decent at worst. McDonnell has, like everyone else on this list, his program rolling like a juggernaut, and Louisville has the ability to spend some money. But Louisville had just one NCAA Tournament appearance prior to hiring McDonnell, which speaks to the kind step up a move from Louisville to Texas would be.
TCU is consistently playing deep into the postseason right now under Schlossnagle.
Yahoo! Sports; AP Photo/Mike Theiler
Jim Schlossnagle – TCU head coach His story:As Texas fans know, Schlossnagle has turned TCU into a very impressive baseball program. The 45-year-old head coach finished tied for first or in first all seven seasons when TCU was in the Mountain West. The move to the Big 12 hasn’t slowed down Schlossnagle, who has reached the College World Series the past two seasons, and won the Big 12 regular season crown in 2015. Since leaving UNLV after two seasons as head coach to take over TCU in 2004, he’s reached the NCAA postseason every year but once, has three College World Series appearances, and has reached a super regional two other seasons.
Since 2004, TCU has placed 12 players on All-American teams, and MLB players like Matt Carpenter, Jake Arrieta, Andrew Cashner, and Brandon Finnegan all played under Schlossnagle. In recent years, TCU’s pitching talent and depth have been among the best in the nation, but it is also starting to add more hitting ability on a consistent basis.
The chances he’d make the move to Texas are…good. TCU has done an impressive job building up its baseball program, spending on it, and adding to its facilities most recently in 2014. However, Texas would still be a step up for Schlossnagle, and he’d be able to recruit at an even better level than he is currently.In 2004, TCU signed Schlossnagle to an extension through the 2020 season,
and according to FrogsOfWar.com, he made $427,735 in base salary during the 2014 season.
OTHERS:John Savage (UCLA), Pat Casey (Oregon State), David Pierce (Tulane)
