Clemson’s search for its next baseball coach is going on its second week. And with more jobs around the country opening up, it’s impacting the Tigers’ hunt for Monte Lee’s replacement.
After learning last week that three prominent sitting college coaches are at or near the top of athletic director Graham Neff’s list of candidates, The Clemson Insider has received more intel on the search. We wanted to pass along the latest on where things stand as of this morning.
Michigan’s Erik Bakich, Notre Dame’s Link Jarrett and East Carolina’s Cliff Godwin are still very much candidates of interest for Neff, who wants to talk to at least one coach whose team is participating in this weekend’s super regionals, according to a source. While TCI can’t confirm exactly which coaches those might be, Jarrett and Godwin have their teams in the super regionals.
So does Louisville’s Dan McDonnell, a darkhorse candidate for the job. McDonnell, who’s trying to lead the Cardinals to a sixth College World Series berth during his tenure, is making north of $1 million annually, so it would take a pretty penny for Clemson to make this caliber of a hire.
But other high-profile programs have joined Clemson in the market for a new coach since the Tigers parted ways with Lee on May 31. One of them is fellow ACC member Florida State, which fired Mike Martin Jr. on Friday after just three seasons at the helm of the Seminoles’ program.
That move affects Clemson’s search the most even if it didn’t come as a complete surprise. According to a source with knowledge of Clemson’s search, the program got wind earlier in the week that FSU would likely move on from Martin and pursue Jarrett as its next coach. Aside from the fact Jarrett has led Notre Dame to back-to-back super regional appearances, the Fighting Irish’s third-year coach is a Tallahassee native who played for FSU in the early 1990s. He also spent the 2003 season on the Seminoles’ staff under Martin’s father, legendary FSU coach Mike Martin.
If the allure for Jarrett to return home proves too much for Clemson to overcome, Bakich and Godwin would still be in play, particularly from a financial standpoint. Each reportedly makes approximately $400,000 annually, which is less than the $500,000 salary Lee made this year.
Bakich, whose team was eliminated from the NCAA Tournament last week, is no longer coaching this season. Godwin has ECU a win away from the College World Series after the Pirates beat David Pierce’s Texas squad in the opening game of their super regional Friday.
Other coaches who have their teams in super regionals are Virginia Tech’s John Szefc, Oklahoma’s Skip Johnson, Auburn’s Butch Thompson, Oregon State’s Mitch Canham, Tennessee’s Tony Vitello, Ole Miss’ Mike Bianco, Southern Miss’ Scott Berry, Stanford’s David Esquer, Connecticut’s Jim Penders, Arkansas’ Dave Van Horn, North Carolina’s Scott Forbes and Texas A&M’s Jim Schlossnagle.
