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New Auburn Baseball Coach Candidates


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Let's go after Vandys coach. We need a monster hire

We've tried that twice before and he turned us down both times.

Yep....sometimes you get surprised about who is ready to change jobs (Like with Clint Myers) so doesn't hurt to check but better to have some good and reachable targets too and go after them.

I'm a Leggett fan...consider that he might be available and he has a better record than most of the guys that a likely prospects.

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Let's go after Vandys coach. We need a monster hire

We've tried that twice before and he turned us down both times.

Yep....sometimes you get surprised about who is ready to change jobs (Like with Clint Myers) so doesn't hurt to check but better to have some good and reachable targets too and go after them.

I'm a Leggett fan...consider that he might be available and he has a better record than most of the guys that a likely prospects.

Yeah, Corbin isn't coming. He's got that program rolling and he's in a state with a lottery that allows him to have more scholarship players than Auburn or UAT.

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The parents and cry baby players need to stay out of the running of the program. Until then Auburn will never be able to get a big name coach to come here due to past history. Look how many coaches we have had since Baird. We just all need to get behind whomever the hire may be and be positive for just once!!

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Let's go after Vandys coach. We need a monster hire

We've tried that twice before and he turned us down both times.

Yep....sometimes you get surprised about who is ready to change jobs (Like with Clint Myers) so doesn't hurt to check but better to have some good and reachable targets too and go after them.

I'm a Leggett fan...consider that he might be available and he has a better record than most of the guys that a likely prospects.

Yeah, Corbin isn't coming. He's got that program rolling and he's in a state with a lottery that allows him to have more scholarship players than Auburn or UAT.

Titan, schools in lottery states cannot have more scholarships than schools in a non-lottery state. That's not how it works. We've been through this on this very forum so many times it makes me tired to think about it. The scholarship limits are exactly the same. Any kid from a lottery state that's on an academic scholarship (aka lottery) and playing baseball also qualifies for an academic scholarship at Auburn. The NCAA limits on baseball scholarships are exactly the same.

Ron Polk thought moving to Georgia from MSU would help him, but found out he wasn't one iota better off at UGA than MSU.

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Let's go after Vandys coach. We need a monster hire

We've tried that twice before and he turned us down both times.

Yep....sometimes you get surprised about who is ready to change jobs (Like with Clint Myers) so doesn't hurt to check but better to have some good and reachable targets too and go after them.

I'm a Leggett fan...consider that he might be available and he has a better record than most of the guys that a likely prospects.

Yeah, Corbin isn't coming. He's got that program rolling and he's in a state with a lottery that allows him to have more scholarship players than Auburn or UAT.

Titan, schools in lottery states cannot have more scholarships than schools in a non-lottery state. That's not how it works. We've been through this on this very forum so many times it makes me tired to think about it. The scholarship limits are exactly the same. Any kid from a lottery state that's on an academic scholarship (aka lottery) and playing baseball also qualifies for an academic scholarship at Auburn. The NCAA limits on baseball scholarships are exactly the same.

Ron Polk thought moving to Georgia from MSU would help him, but found out he wasn't one iota better off at UGA than MSU.

Of course Vandy does not get lottery money so forget that argument but just to remind my friend Mikey that each school has it's own pot of scholarship money and each school and people within the school determines the qualifications for the scholarships.

My wife and I give a modest scholarship each year through the School of Business....we are the ones who decided the academic requirements for applicants and we decided the other criteria the student must meet. The Business School selects the students from those who apply and qualify. Actually the academic requirement is pretty reasonable but the other criteria (where they went to HS) does restrict the pool of qualified applicants. Just sayin' that if a school plays it right, they can have a good supply of supplemental scholarship money aside from athletic scholarship money.

I could be wrong but I bet that anyone on this board could establish an "academic scholarship" with certain GPA requirements and other criteria that could be used by the baseball program to supplement their athletic scholarships.

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Butch Thompson first choice by a long shot if I was doing the picking. Dunn would be the easy and generic pick.

Butch has never been a head coach... except JSCC

no thanks.

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After spending 13-9 million on HUGE jumbotron, we may not have enough money left to hire a BIG name coach.

Anybody with any microcosm of intelligence knows that isn't true. Post never.

What's wrong with Frank Thomas? he isn't playing anymore.

What's wrong? He's NEVER in his life coached anybody. He knows NOTHING about what it takes to run a little league program much less a major division one program. How many times do the simplest of things have to be explained to you?

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Butch Thompson first choice by a long shot if I was doing the picking. Dunn would be the easy and generic pick.

Butch has never been a head coach... except JSCC

no thanks.

But he's been involved with MAJOR Division 1 programs for many years. He knows how to coach and he's one of the most respected coaches in the country. I would LOVE to have him. Absolutely NO to casey dunn....NEVER.

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I could be wrong but I bet that anyone on this board could establish an "academic scholarship" with certain GPA requirements and other criteria that could be used by the baseball program to supplement their athletic scholarships.

Right there is where the NCAA steps in. Any academic scholarship received by a participating athlete must be available to ALL qualified students. To specify that it's for athletes of any sport is a violation. There is one school in California that's baseball program is on probation right now for trying to pull this trick.

Now, if we go recruit a top scholar that happens to be a baseball player, that's ok but his qualifications will have to be equal to or greater than non-athletes receiving similar assistance.

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Butch Thompson first choice by a long shot if I was doing the picking. Dunn would be the easy and generic pick.

Butch has never been a head coach... except JSCC

no thanks.

This is an extremely ill-informed take.

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Butch Thompson first choice by a long shot if I was doing the picking. Dunn would be the easy and generic pick.

Butch has never been a head coach... except JSCC

no thanks.

But he's been involved with MAJOR Division 1 programs for many years. He knows how to coach and he's one of the most respected coaches in the country. I would LOVE to have him. Absolutely NO to casey dunn....NEVER.

Tom Slater and Steve Renfroe were also involved with major D1 programs and we see how those worked out. Trust me, there is a big difference in being a head coach at a major program and being a pitching coach at a major program. Heck, I've been involved with major D1 programs, but that doesn't make me qualified to be a head coach at Auburn.

As I said earlier, I love and respect Butch, but he is not the answer.

Casey Dunn is way more qualified. I'm not saying he is the answer, but of the people mentioned, except Leggett and Corbin (which ain't gonna happen), Casey is the most qualified.

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Butch Thompson first choice by a long shot if I was doing the picking. Dunn would be the easy and generic pick.

Butch has never been a head coach... except JSCC

no thanks.

This is an extremely ill-informed take.

Please explain. No major head coaching experience. If JJ's main goal was to find the most qualified assistant, Butch is your guy. If you are going for the most qualified head coach, there are plenty of other guys that have been successful as HEAD COACHES at the D1 level.

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Butch Thompson first choice by a long shot if I was doing the picking. Dunn would be the easy and generic pick.

Butch has never been a head coach... except JSCC

no thanks.

This is an extremely ill-informed take.

Please explain. No major head coaching experience. If JJ's main goal was to find the most qualified assistant, Butch is your guy. If you are going for the most qualified head coach, there are plenty of other guys that have been successful as HEAD COACHES at the D1 level.

1. Butch Thompson is the guy everyone points to as long overdue for a head coaching slot. Many felt he should have been hired the last time. He's been at Auburn and understands the challenges. He was a big part of the 2010 team that set records for production. He's a top notch recruiter and pitching coach.

2. You aren't going to get a great head coach to jump this late into the year. Golloway fell into our laps the last time. Don't expect that same kind of fortune this go around. If you're wanting some proven head coach, you may as well write this year off and use an interim guy and conduct your search next spring.

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Here's a brief write up from AL.com:

A key ingredient to Mississippi State's rebuilding project and its run to the national finals in 2013, Thompson is ready to lead his own program.

The veteran assistant has helped build successful programs at Georgia, Auburn and Mississippi State. He's not only familiar with the south, he has mined great talent from every corner of Alabama. Eight players on MSU's roster hail from Alabama.

Three of Thompson's recruiting classes at Auburn ranked within the top 18, including a top 5 class in 2007 that led to John Pawlowski's trip to a regional in 2010. Thompson has coached 22 All-Americans on the Division I level.

He was named Baseball America's assistant coach of the year in 2014 and has developed 23 non-drafted players out of high school into draftees in college. His pitching staff led the SEC with a 2.58 ERA, which was the second-best mark in the nation in 2012.

Thompson is a familiar face in Alabama, where he has coached at Huntingdon College (1993) in Montgomery, Birmingham-Southern (1994-96, 1998-2001), Georgia (2002-05) and Auburn (2006-08) before joining John Cohen at MSU in 2009.

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Butch Thompson first choice by a long shot if I was doing the picking. Dunn would be the easy and generic pick.

Butch has never been a head coach... except JSCC

no thanks.

This is an extremely ill-informed take.

Please explain. No major head coaching experience. If JJ's main goal was to find the most qualified assistant, Butch is your guy. If you are going for the most qualified head coach, there are plenty of other guys that have been successful as HEAD COACHES at the D1 level.

1. Butch Thompson is the guy everyone points to as long overdue for a head coaching slot. Many felt he should have been hired the last time. He's been at Auburn and understands the challenges. He was a big part of the 2010 team that set records for production. He's a top notch recruiter and pitching coach.

2. You aren't going to get a great head coach to jump this late into the year. Golloway fell into our laps the last time. Don't expect that same kind of fortune this go around. If you're wanting some proven head coach, you may as well write this year off and use an interim guy and conduct your search next spring.

Like I said, if you want an assistant, and that may be what JJ wants, then Butch is your guy. But, if you are looking for an established head coach, you have to look elsewhere. I agree that it will be tough to get an established guy this late, but those are the facts.

My question is why has he not already been a head coach. He was at Birmingham Southern in the late 90's (he recruited me there), and then did a tour of duty at numerous SEC schools. He is 45ish. He may not want to be a head coach. Some don't.

Again, I love Butch Thompson. I think he could do a good job and the pitching staff would definitely get a boost, but do we know how he is running a program? He did well at Jeff State in the mid 90's. I guess we'll see.

If he is the guy, he will have my full support because he is a wonderful man of faith and an all around great guy. I just hope that JJ gets the best available and doesn't settle (I would not consider Butch being hired as JJ settling).

I just want AU baseball getting back to the Baird days when we were competitive every year. We should be able to get back to that.

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Do we know yet where Holliday fits into things? It appears he was involved with the practice sessions but no mention about him being fired...only suspended....which could be reversed if he has a good (and honest) story to tell.

Just wondering if he could possibly run the program this season?

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Guess I'm still in the Leggett camp....who is "between jobs" at the moment. That alone is not a good reason to hire him but I think is among the top few candidates that we should/could consider. I ( and a lot of Clemson folks) think their new AD made mistake in dumping him.

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My choice would be Bobby Cox if he was 30 years younger. He would be one who has a ton of experience. OK, I am not up to date on the available college coaches out there. Why not offer Vanderbilt's HC the job with a million dollar pay increase over what he now makes?

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