Mickey Dean to Retire at Season's End

[RedDirtFan 39]

On 4/12/2024 at 9:06 AM, Jad0003 said:

Phillip Marshal said they aren’t naming a replacement until after the WCWS. 

Nothing against Phillip, but he reports. If the Leadership was serious about this program, they would accelerate the timeline, name the successor that is truly an Auburn Woman/Man and put the clown in the hat out to pasture as special assistant to the regional manager.

[Jad0003 408]

1 hour ago, RedDirtFan said:

Nothing against Phillip, but he reports. If the Leadership was serious about this program, they would accelerate the timeline, name the successor that is truly an Auburn Woman/Man and put the clown in the hat out to pasture as special assistant to the regional manager.

I’m not sure there are many examples in any sport where a head coach was named prior to the season’s end, much less a month out. 

Coach Dean will be with the team through the end of this season, and no head or assistant coach is willing to sacrifice their current team’s season to be named head coach at Auburn for next season. I’m sure Cohen has a list of candidates and will act quickly. 

[AU1947 157]

D'armoir was with Earlywine at Mizzou when thempost season restrictions were levied against their softball program for the tutor scandal...

[WarTiger 3,909]

On 4/15/2024 at 1:25 PM, RedDirtFan said:

Nothing against Phillip, but he reports. If the Leadership was serious about this program, they would accelerate the timeline, name the successor that is truly an Auburn Woman/Man and put the clown in the hat out to pasture as special assistant to the regional manager.

That's never happened in the history of hiring a coach, why would you expect it to happen now?   Just because the leadership doesn't hire a replacement on YOUR timing doesn't mean they aren't serious about the program.   Also, no coach worth having is going to abandon the place they are currently coaching and just wait for the current season to end, nor is any program (at any level) going to tell a coach that wasn't fired to just leave during the season.  That's just not how things work at any level.

Even interim coaches that take over after a coach is fired during the season don't get named permanent head coach (if they are chosen) until after the season is over.

No doubt Cohen has a list of names he will reach out too, or maybe already has through agents but nothing will happen likely until the WCWS is over.

[Jad0003 408]

1 hour ago, WarTiger said:

That's never happened in the history of hiring a coach, why would you expect it to happen now?   Just because the leadership doesn't hire a replacement on YOUR timing doesn't mean they aren't serious about the program.   Also, no coach worth having is going to abandon the place they are currently coaching and just wait for the current season to end, nor is any program (at any level) going to tell a coach that wasn't fired to just leave during the season.  That's just not how things work at any level.

Even interim coaches that take over after a coach is fired during the season don't get named permanent head coach (if they are chosen) until after the season is over.

No doubt Cohen has a list of names he will reach out too, or maybe already has through agents but nothing will happen likely until the WCWS is over.

Thank you!

[Big Fat Barner 137]

I think if there is anything this season has taught us it’s that NOBODY on this current coaching staff is capable of running this program successfully. Love Love Love Carasone but if Cohen promotes her to HC, it’ll be a super lazy hire and reaffirm my belief that he truly doesn’t care about softball. 
 

i mean seriously has anyone seen him at any of the softball games? I see him on tv damn near every baseball game in the HOF club, i’ve been to about half the SB games this year and I’ve not seen this man once. Including today vs UK when there was nothing else going on!!!

I genuinely want to know if any of you have seen him there.

 

[EagleEye67 1,939]

Well,  I never have,  but as they say,  absence of evidence is not necessarily evidence of absence.  I used to see Jacobs there periodically in the past. 

[Jad0003 408]

Phillip mentioned three people as possibilities, but he made it clear the list was not comprehensive nor was he willing to throw out many names.

1. Melyssa Lombardi (Oregon Head Coach)

2. Chris Malveaux (Tennessee Hitting Coach)

3. Clarisa Crowell (Penn State Head Coach)

In my opinion, the first candidates you reach out to are Kenny Gajewski at Ok St. or Marissa Young at Duke. They are the top two coaches who many seem to think there is a chance they’ll leave their current schools at some point.

If they say no, I look at D’Amour, Glasco, and Lombardi. D’Amour has some questions to answer about his time at Missouri, but he’s run clean programs at Kennesaw and Va Tech. His teams hit really well, and he’s been to two super regionals. Glasco is a little older, but he’s been to a super regional. His teams also hit well. In contrast to the other two, Lombardi is known for her ability to coach pitching. She hasn’t seen the success she saw previously at Oklahoma, but she’s also been to a super regional. The big question mark for all three is can they hire someone who can provide strengths to their weaknesses. For D’Amour and Glasco, it’s a pitching coaching, and for Lombardi, it’s a hitting coach. 

If we go the assistant route, Malveaux is probably top of my list. He's one of the top hitting coaches in the country, and his wife coaches catchers and base running. In the same comparison as D’Amour and Glasco, he’s got to find someone to coach the pitchers. 

Kumar has done well at Miami, OH. She was an assistant under D’Amour at Va Tech, and she teaches the same philosophies. Her teams hit well against a weaker schedule, but they did put up 7 runs against Oklahoma this year. She has the same question marks around pitching as D’Amour and Glasco.

Crowell will likely help Penn State make the tournament this year, but she isn’t high on my list. They are riding a freshman arm in the circle, and they do not hit well against a very weak non-conference and a very bad Big 10. 

Overall, I lean to D’Amour, but I would be happy with any of the above outside Crowell.

Edited 1 hour ago by Jad0003