Coach Scoop: Washington Hires LSU’s Kelly, All Eyes On USC, Michigan COACHING BUZZ Kendall Rogers - June 17, 2022 We’re only on the first day at the College World Series, and already, the head coaching carousel is starting to dwindle down a bit. We’ve had 30 total head coaching changes so far this offseason, and of those, only 12 vacancies remain after a whopping seven programs have made hires so far this week. Spoiler Clemson hiring Michigan’s Erik Bakich earlier this week set off quite the domino effect. Baylor’s Mitch Thompson was hired the next morning, along with Western Kentucky’s Marc Rardin. That chain reaction continued with Ohio State hiring TCU assistant Bill Mosiello, San Francisco hiring Rob DiToma, and Fairleigh Dickinson promoting Manny Roman to head coach to replace the departed DiToma. The barrage of coaching hires continued on Friday with Washington hiring LSU pitching coach Jason Kelly as head coach. Kelly’s hiring at Washington comes as no surprise. UW athletic director Jen Cohen underwent an exhaustive national search for a head coach. The Huskies interviewed candidates from across the country, while some West Coast names were the last standing. Sacramento State’s Reggie Christiansen got a hard look for the job, as did San Diego’s Brock Ungricht and UC Irvine’s Ben Orloff. UC Santa Barbara’s Andrew Checketts, who’s also in the mix at USC, also took a long look at the Huskies’ opening. But in the end, with Checketts no longer an option, the Huskies went with the perceived best option available in Kelly. Kelly just makes a lot of sense for Cohen and the Huskies. The heralded pitching coach spent this season on Jay Johnson’s staff at LSU, but has extensive Pac-12, and Washington, roots. He spent two seasons as an assistant at Arizona State, time at Cal Poly, but most notably, he spent seven season in Seattle as the pitching coach for former UW head coach Lindsay Meggs. During that span, he helped guide the Huskies to their only College World Series appearance in program history in 2018. He also earned D1Baseball Assistant of the Year honors during the season. In addition to his duties as a pitching coach, Kelly is considered a strong recruiter. He’s also expected to hire a quality staff mixed with some pro and college names. With Kelly in at UW, there are only a couple of big-time head coaching jobs left on the table — USC, Michigan and Florida State. The Trojans’ search for a head coach continues with UCSB’s Checketts and Texas hitting coach Troy Tulowitzki strongly in the mix. Michigan’s search has just begun, but the Wolverines are expected to court former players Michael Brdar and Chris Fetter and Connecticut head coach Jim Penders. Fetter would make a lot of sense, but sources believe he would prefer staying in professional baseball. We will see. Penders, even with his ties to Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel, seems like a tough get, while Brdar is ultra-intriguing to me. He’s clearly young, but is considered a superstar young coach in Major League Baseball — he’s currently the hitting coach for the San Diego Padres. As for the Seminoles, they will make Notre Dame head coach and former FSU player and assistant Link Jarrett turn them down. If Jarrett decides not to make the move, keep an eye on former FSU player and current Kansas City Royals bench coach Pedro Grifol. Grifol also got a hard look when the Seminoles promoted Mike Martin Jr. to head coach the last go-round. In other news, Butler is getting closer to making a decision on its next head coach. The Bulldogs are considering a few candidates, including former Ohio State head coach Greg Beals, Ball State assistant and recruiting coordinator Blake Beemer and Purdue pitching coach Chris Marx. That’s a Friday afternoon update on the coaching carousel. Washington made its choice in Jason Kelly, and USC is now on the clock with Tulowitzki, Checketts and perhaps a surprise candidate on the board. As always, stay tuned.
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