If Green does not take Claggett with him to Wichita State, the Cougars' underwhelming pitching during his tenure on the Palouse would make it a hard sell to Cougar fans. Green could take pitching coach Anthony Claggett with him, by all accounts a great guy and solid baseball man - he's spent the past four seasons as WSU's pitching coach under Green and two more before that in the same role at New Mexico State. And the same goes for Campbell head man Justin Haire who just led the Camels to a 46-win season.ĪLTHOUGH CHUN HAS gone outside WSU for all but one of his head coaching hires, could he break off a curve ball and promote from within? It's always worth considering but in this particular case and apart from perhaps boosting roster retention, it seems unlikely. If Chun does venture beyond the West Coast, Mike Glavine from Northeastern could be in the mix after winning 44 games this season. Dietrich's teams have had very good pitching everywhere he has gone as a pitching coach, although it was a little rocky on the mound this season for the Titans. If WSU wants to prioritize pitching, head man Jason Dietrich at Cal State Fullerton could be an option. But he will likely get looks from all over the country after winning 38 and going 8-1 against the Pac-12. UC Irvine's Ben Orloff has done a noteworthy job, making the NCAA Tournament in 2021 and was deserving of another bid this year (38-17/19-11 Big West). He received an extension through 2028 and has been there for 11 years so he may not be desirous of a move, even with the lure of a bigger conference. Sticking with the West Coast theme, Andrew Checketts from UC Santa Barbara would be a big hire. Smith is the head coach and hitting coach at UVU, as was Green at Wazzu, so the Cougars would likely not have to add another coach to fill that position. In two years, he took one of the worst programs in the country to winning 34 games in 2023. Originally from Olympia, Smith was the head coach at Lower Columbia College for four years and was the hitting coach at LSU before taking the UVU job. Since taking over as WSU athletic director in 2018, Chun has only hired one assistant to a head job tennis coach Raquel Atawo.Īssuming the trend continues, Utah Valley's Eddie Smith is a name to know. OSU takes on LSU in the tourney Monday and needs to win twice to advance.Ĭhun's track record at Washington State has been to hire head coaches from outside the program. Barney was set to begin his coaching career in Triple-A ball before the COVID pandemic wiped out the season. Dorman has coaching experience in the state of Washington and a pro resume, spending a number of years as a coach in the Mariners organization. Two Oregon State assistants are certainly intriguing - Beavers' pitching coach Rich Dorman and hitting coach Darwin Barney. Jewett was the head coach at Tulane for six seasons (2017-22), before coming to USC and in addition to Washington State, has held coaching jobs at Arizona State, UW and Vanderbilt. A WSU assistant from 2005-09, he graduated from Washington State in 1993 (did not play baseball). He is currently the hitting coach at USC. Keep an eye on Travis Jewett a Tacoma native and former WSU assistant coach with extensive ties to the area. The current baseball portal window is open for entry until July 13. We could see a WSU exodus with Green's departure - teams with stable coaching staffs tend to see a lot of movement these days but a head coaching move usually kicks it up a few notches beyond that. The baseball portal opened May 30 with names already flooding on. Meanwhile, the transfer portal could play an opposite role. Chun likely wants to move quickly to replace Brian Green, reportedly off to Wichita State after four years at WSU, but some head coaches and assistants Chun might want to interview are currently in the NCAA Baseball Tournament. TIMING WILL PLAY a key role in Washington State AD Pat Chun's search for a new baseball coach.
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