Erik Bakich was introduced as Clemson’s next head baseball coach Thursday.
One of Bakich’s first orders of business will be putting together a staff. He touched on the subject during his introductory press conference and while he already has a name in mind to join him on the bench, not everyone will be following him from Ann Arbor.
“I’m going to be asking one of our assistants at Michigan, (assistant head coach/infielders) Nick Schnabel, so I’ll be talking with him and we’ll be going through the process of interviewing pitching coaches and evaluating the support staff positions as well. But, I won’t rush that and I will be very thorough in that process to make sure we have the very best coaches and support staff for our Clemson team.”
Schnabel, who also served as Michigan’s recruiting coordinator, was named the 2019 college baseball national assistant coach of the year. He also worked with the Wolverines’ infielders and hitters as well.
Schnabel played with Bakich at East Carolina in the 1999 and 2000 seasons.
He started his college coaching career as a volunteer coach at ECU in 2004. Schnabel would then spend three seasons at the United States Military Academy and two seasons at Liberty before returning to be ECU’s hitting instructor, infield coach and recruiting coordinator for three seasons.
Prior to Bakich accepting the head coaching opening at Clemson, he wasn’t expected to retain pitching coach, Steve Merriman, at Michigan. With that said, Bakich was asked Thursday about what he’s looking for in a new pitching coach.
“Somebody who can bring the simplicity to what seems like a very advanced way of teaching pitching these days,” he said. “It’s one thing to teach throwing, it’s another thing to teach pitching, and you see a lot of that line being blended.
“Throwing is not necessarily pitching and developing your stuff is great and it’s important to develop velocity and movement, but you also have to command the baseball and throw it where you want to. And that location component is not only in games but in bullpens and catch play.
“And then there’s a whole controlling the game component, where it’s important to pitch with quick tempo. It’s important to be quick to the plate. It’s important to field your position. So, all of those things plus being ultra-competitive on the mound. When all else fails, that me versus you mentality and I’m just gonna get the dude out.”
When it comes to putting together a staff, Bakich will certainly have his work cut out for him.
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