Tag: Jack Leggett

Clemson baseball alum named head coach at The Citadel

Russell Triplett, who played four seasons for Clemson between 2001-04, is the new head baseball coach at The Citadel.

The Citadel has a new head baseball coach, and it’s a former Clemson Tigers player.

Russell Triplett was named The Citadel’s coach on Wednesday, marking his second NCAA head coaching job. Triplett had previously spent the past 14 seasons as head coach at Newberry College.

He compiled a record of 418-278-1 as head coach at Newberry and guided the program to its first NCAA Division II Baseball Tournament appearance and victory. Triplett was a volunteer assistant on Clemson’s coaching staff in 2007 under Jack Leggett.

“The opportunity to take the helm of a program with as much history, tradition and pure grit as The Citadel is a dream come true,” Triplett said in a news release provided by The Citadel. “The entire process of interviewing for this position has been incredibly fulfilling, and I’d like to personally thank The Citadel’s president, Gen. Walters, The Citadel Director of Athletics Mike Capaccio and every member of the search committee for putting their faith in my background, my experience and my vision. The Citadel ranks as one of those ‘special places’ within the college baseball community, and my entire family and I are thrilled to embrace the unique culture and dedicated alumni base that makes this institution exceptional.”

As a player, Triplett played for the Tigers from 2001-04 after redshirting in 2000. He played in 222 games in four seasons and had a career batting average of .312. Triplett was a member of four NCAA Tournament teams as a player, including Clemson’s 2002 squad that reached the semifinal round of the College World Series in Omaha.

After Clemson, Triplett spent time in the New York Mets organization as a minor league infielder from 2004-05. He was named head coach at Newberry in May 2010.

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Bakich, Leggett’s 13th-inning ejections, suspensions addressed by the NCAA

The NCAA has chimed in about Bakich and Leggett’s suspensions.

Clemson baseball’s season ended in a heartbreaking, 13-inning loss to Florida on Sunday. To add insult to injury, head coach Erik Bakich and development coach Jack Leggett were ejected at the top of the thirteenth.

The debacle started after Alden Mathes hit a go-ahead home run and spiked his bat into the ground in excitement. According to crew chief Billy Van Raaphorst, Leggett was ejected for “waving his hands while yelling at the crew,” and Bakich was ejected for “clearly [inciting] the crowd.” Both were handed suspensions.

To understand why Bakich and Leggett were suspended, Clemson Insider requested a comment from the NCAA on the punishments. Here’s how the NCAA Baseball Secretary-Rules Editor, Randy Bruns, responded,

As an additional note as it relates to the last part of the Florida-Clemson game, I have not received any specific details but the rules that relate to the ejections at the end of the game are as follows:

“A head coach who is ejected but then immediately stops arguing and leaves the field is not suspended per Rule 2-26. However, per Rule 5-15-a-4, any team personnel who has been ejected and continues to argue or continues to excessively express themselves with prolonged actions or offensive language is suspended for 2 additional games.

“Team personnel other than the head coach (such as an assistant coach or player) who are ejected also serve a one-game suspension per Rule 2-26-f.”

 

 

Bakich sheds more light on Leggett’s future role with Clemson baseball

When he was introduced as Clemson’s new head baseball coach last month, Erik Bakich was adamant that his former boss needed to be involved with the program again. Bakich’s hire marks his return to Clemson two decades after he got his coaching career …

When he was introduced as Clemson’s new head baseball coach last month, Erik Bakich was adamant that his former boss needed to be involved with the program again.

Bakich’s hire marks his return to Clemson two decades after he got his coaching career started as a volunteer assistant on Jack Leggett’s staff in 2002. Leggett, of course, is one of the more synonymous names with Clemson baseball having spent 22 seasons of his Hall of Fame career at the helm of the Tigers’ program before being let go following the 2015 season.

Now Leggett, who led the Tigers to 21 postseason appearances and their only six trips to the College World Series, will be working for Bakich, though exactly what Leggett’s title will be on staff has still yet to be determined. Bakich’s top two assistant jobs – assistant head coach and recruiting coordinator Nick Schnabel and pitching coach Jimmy Belanger – as well as four other staff positions have already been filled or are in line to be filled.

Bakich recently told The Clemson Insider he envisions the 68-year-old Leggett helping with “total program development” primarily in an off-field capacity.

“He’s a guy that, in one bucket, is connected to all of his former players and all the alums, and he can help generate excitement and opportunities with alumni in that regard,” Bakich said. “In another regard, his eyes have just seen thousands of innings, games and pitches, and so he can be a great resource for the coaches to help us coach better. Just being able to be involved in all of our staff meetings. Even for me personally, just as long as he was here and just kind of knowing the lay of the land, he can help me transition well.

“And then from a players’ standpoint, he brings so much value to a player just with his energy and his experience. His fingerprints are all over Doug Kingsmore Stadium and all over Clemson baseball. He was here for a quarter of a century almost, so I think every player will benefit from hearing from that experience that he can share with them. And hearing how the best former players did it and how some of the best former teams did it. So I think the opportunity for him to have meetings with the team or one-on-one meetings with the players, any type of mentorship role he can take on with the players I think is extremely valuable.”

While the parameters of Leggett’s new role are still being defined, Bakich made it clear he wants Leggett around the program as much as possible after a seven-year hiatus.

“He may not be in uniform running around coaching the team, but he is going to be very much involved in our program,” Bakich said.

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20 years later, former Clemson baseball standout reflects on record-setting offense

Michael Johnson appreciates it even more now. And while he certainly played his part, the former Clemson baseball standout also considers himself lucky to come along at the time that he did. “We had such a good hitting team,” Johnson recently …

Michael Johnson appreciates it even more now.

And while he certainly played his part, the former Clemson baseball standout also considers himself lucky to come along at the time that he did.

“We had such a good hitting team,” Johnson recently reminisced to The Clemson Insider.

Two decades ago, the Tigers put together arguably the best offensive season the program has ever seen. Johnson, an All-American first baseman on Clemson’s 2002 squad, hit 25 home runs and drove in 81 runs that season, but he was far from the only Tiger doing damage. 

Johnson felt like he benefited from the fact there weren’t many weak spots that could be pitched around in a lineup that helped the Tigers win 54 games and reach the College World Series for the fourth time in then-coach Jack Leggett’s tenure, and understandably so. It also featured one of the best players to ever don a Clemson uniform, future first-round draft pick Khalil Greene, who set a program record with 27 home runs en route to National Player of the Year honors. Power-hitting third baseman Jeff Baker, who went on to be a fourth-round selection and play a decade in the big leagues, was also in that lineup.

Greene, Johnson and Baker combined to swat 77 home runs, but even the less impressive home run totals compared to theirs were still in the double figures. Jarrod Schmidt, a freshman All-American a couple of years earlier, went deep 11 times and tallied 54 RBIs, helping the Tigers tally a program-record 112 long balls that season.

“You have guys around you like that, Baker and Khalil,” Johnson said. “And Jarrod Schmidt had (11) I think. When you’re putting up those kinds of offensive numbers as a team, it’s just incredible.”

With that many bats that could leave the yard at any moment, Clemson had its fair share of strikeouts, too (447). But the Tigers’ offense was far from the feast-or-famine type. They posted a .324 average that season with the All-American trio leading the way. Greene led the nation with a staggering .470 clip, Johnson came in at .384 and Baker had a .325 average.

Only one of the Tigers’ regulars hit below .304 that season.

“It was just really fun to be a part of,” Johnson said. “Just loved every minute of it. We had so much fun.”

Clemson beat Arkansas in a super regional that year to get to Omaha, where the Tigers scored 20 combined runs in wins over Nebraska and Georgia Tech to start the CWS. Johnson, who was named to the all-CWS team, belted his final home run of the season in the Tigers’ next game to give them an early 3-0 lead on rival South Carolina before the Gamecocks rallied to win that one.

South Carolina later beat the Tigers again to end their CWS run, but the golden era of Clemson baseball was heating up. Clemson, which had also been to the CWS in 2000, returned to Omaha four years later and again most recently in 2010. Now the program is trying to get back to that level.

After missing out on the last two NCAA Tournaments – the first time the program hasn’t played in consecutive tournaments since the 1980s – Clemson recently hired former Michigan coach Erik Bakich, a volunteer assistant for that ‘02 team, to lead the program. Johnson is a fan of the hire and is hopeful Bakich can get the Tigers back to winning big, even if it will be tough for any future Clemson offense to surpass the success of 20 years ago.

“I loved it,” Johnson said of Bakich’s hire. “I’m excited for him, and I’m excited for the program. I think he’s going to do a lot of great things. He’s going to embrace the tradition of Clemson baseball, so I’m just really excited about it.”

Bakich: ‘We have to have Coach Leggett involved in this program’

When Erik Bakich first arrived at Clemson, he was a 24-year-old volunteer assistant coach, who got paid in Gatorade bars in T-shirts. Jack Leggett took a chance on Bakich, as his favor to one of his former players at Western Carolina, Keith LeClair, …

When Erik Bakich first arrived at Clemson, he was a 24-year-old volunteer assistant coach, who got paid in Gatorade bars in T-shirts.

Jack Leggett took a chance on Bakich, as his favor to one of his former players at Western Carolina, Keith LeClair, who was suffering from ALS at the time.

“I didn’t know Erik, but I trusted my friend and I owed him a lot,” Leggett recalled. “I took Erik and its worked out unbelievably. We’ve had a great friendship for over 20 years and we have another 20 years to go, I hope.”

“Coach Leggett, who’s here today, instilled the importance of good fundamentals and instilled foundational life skills like toughness, discipline, competing and having relentless positive energy and doing it all with an absolutely unmatched care level,” Bakich said during his introductory press conference. Thank you for giving me a shot.”

Bakich also served as a head coach at Maryland (2010-12) and as an assistant coach at Vanderbilt (2003-09) along with his one year as volunteer assistant coach at Clemson under head coach Jack Leggett in 2002, when the Tigers had a 54-17 record and advanced to the College World Series.

20 years later, Bakich is getting a different kind of shot.

It was an opportunity that Leggett didn’t think Bakich would get. Not because he wasn’t deserving, but more so that Leggett thought he’d still be at Clemson.

Thursday was a rewarding moment for Leggett, who hadn’t stepped foot in Clemson’s baseball facilities in nearly seven years. 

“It makes me feel welcomed back because I know the hands that the program is in now and I feel good about it,” Leggett said. “I’ve been welcomed by him and Graham (Neff), which has been very special for me the last few months. I feel good about it. I feel really good about it.”

Leggett would love to be back in some capacity, but the former legendary coach said that the decision would be in Bakich’s hands. Conversations will be had, but from every indication Bakich gave during his introductory press conference, the feeling about Leggett being back around the program seems mutual.

“Whatever capacity that I can help or lend to him and his program, I’m willing to do,” Leggett added. “It’s really up to Erik and what the rules allow and what he has planned for me. If anything, it’s gonna be up to him. But, I do love Clemson baseball and I miss it. I’m just glad to be welcomed back into the facility and into the program.

“It means a lot to me and it means a lot to my players. The amount of texts I’ve gotten the past four-five days has been unbelievable. They feel good that I’ve been included in some way. I think Graham for that and his leadership and Erik as well.”

“He’s an unbelievable resource and he’s a great friend and he’s a great mentor,” Bakich said. “And he’s been a great mentor, ever since I worked for him 20 years ago…we have to have Coach Leggett involved in this program and around our players and the energy he brings. Whatever capacity that is or whatever title that is, I don’t know, but I just know the program will be better with his energy involved.”

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Watch Erik Bakich be introduced as Clemson’s new coach

Clemson athletic director got his man and Thursday he introduced Erik Bakich as the next head baseball coach for the Tigers. Watch Bakich’s introduction on TCITV: Statements:

Clemson athletic director got his man and Thursday he introduced Erik Bakich as the next head baseball coach for the Tigers.

Watch Bakich’s introduction on TCITV:

Statements: