As you have heard, Chris Lemonis is out after 6 and a half seasons. Lemonis led Mississippi State to the school’s only national championship in 2021. He finished with 232-135 overall record. What went wrong?

The Bulldogs experienced back to back losing SEC seasons in 2022 (26-30, 9-21 SEC) and 2023 (27-26, 9-21 SEC) before a decent 2024 (40-23, 17-13 SEC) ending in a regional final appearance. State’s 2025 is not yet finished. The Bulldogs sit at 7-14 in conference play with Kentucky, Ole Miss, and Missouri left on the schedule. Pitching coach Justin Parker will take over as the interim for the rest of the season. The advanced stats for this year’s team are not bad at all. I would not be surprised to see this firing spark some momentum resulting in a postseason appearance for Mississippi State.

Mississippi State is a prominent job. The tradition, resources, and facilities are hard to match and the fan support is perhaps the best in baseball with the right man in charge. The school and donors are all in on baseball and will spend the money required to bring the right man to Starkville. They need a name that will win recruiting battles with the LSU, Tennessee, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Texas, Texas A&M programs of the SEC. There are multiple names that jump out on paper, but these are the ones I would be ringing first if I was the one making the hire.

Brian O’Connor – Virginia

Brian O’Connor has done it all at UVA. He led the Hoos to their program’s first National Championship in 2015. O’Connor is a five time ACC coach of the year and three time national coach of the year. D1Baseball named Virginia the ACC’s program of the decade while he was unsurprisingly named ACC coach of the decade. It would be a home run hire from State’s standpoint but can they get him to leave? Teams have attempted in the past to pry O’Connor from UVA and it hasn’t worked. State will have the bag and resources to at least make O’Connor think about it. Next season will be his 23rd as head coach.

Chris Pollard – Duke

Pollard is in his 13th season of the Duke head coach. The Blue Devils have made the postseason six times in the past eight seasons. He has yet to make Omaha, but has taken Duke to one of the country’s best programs over the last few seasons. I like Chris Pollard and believe he would do well with Miss State’s resources. Pollard also earned his Masters degree at Miss State.

Butch Thompson – Auburn

Thompson has done a great job at Auburn. He has led the Tigers to five NCAA Tournament appearances since 2016, which includes two trips to Omaha. Thompson also has connections to Starkville. He served as an assistant coach from 2009-2015 before accepting the Auburn job. He knows his way around the SEC and offers a low buyout at only $500k. I would love this hire and would probably have him as the favorite.

Skip Johnson – Oklahoma

Mississippi State’s AD, Zac Selmon, came from Oklahoma. Johnson has been in charge of the Sooners since 2018 and has performed well. The Sooners have reached the postseason in 3 consecutive seasons, which included a national championship appearance in 2022. Last season, OU won the Big 12 and earned a host site. Johnson has surprised people with how well OU has competed so far in year one of being in the toughest conference in baseball.

Nick Mingione – Kentucky

Mingione spent 9 years as an assistant in Starkville. He has taken Kentucky from nothing to a current national powerhouse. Last season was his best thus far, the Cats won a share of the SEC regular season title and ended their season in Omaha. To even have Kentucky competing in the SEC in baseball is an accomplishment. Mingione and UK’s program can be cringe at times, but he knows how to recruit and win on the SEC level. The only problem is Mingione has a huge buyout. State can pay it, but I’m not sure they will want to given the other options on the table.

Christian Ostrander – Southern Miss

Ostrander is one of the top pitching minds in the country. In his first season as HC, he led USM to 43 wins and a Sun Belt Tournament title, and he’s got the Golden Eagles contending for the Sun Belt again this year. He has connections to the surrounding area for recruiting. Ole Miss tried to pry Ostrander as their pitching coach a few years ago, but he rejected to take over the program from legendary HC Scott Berry. I’m not sure if he would leave USM, but I am not sure why he wouldn’t at least entertain it.

Mitch Canham – Oregon State

We know about Oregon State’s program history. Why would Canham ever leave? It hurts not having a conference. The PAC 12 will be returning, but will not be a baseball conference by any means. Oregon State has the tradition and history to compete with anyone but can they remain the West Coast’s program standard while being in a weak conference?

Skylar Meade – Troy

Meade is an upcoming name that recruits well and has Troy competing on the national level. After beginning his career as a stand out pitching coach, Meade took the Trojans program over in 2022. He will be 2 for 2 in leading Troy to the postseason after this season. He is a young coach without a long track record but could be the risky hire that pays off when given the proper resources.

Max Weiner – Texas

I have this one as a long-shot given Weiner is only 30 years old; however it could be a risk to at pays off. Sometimes it takes a risk on a coach with no HC experience for it to pay off. I would say Tony Vitello risk paid off well for Tennessee. Granted Vitello had more assistant coaching under his belt than Weiner currently has, but sometimes it takes some balls. Weiner will almost certainly become a HC in the future if he wants. Jim Schlossnagle hired the former Seattle Mariners’ pitching coordinator in 2023. Weiner worked magic with A&M’s staff last season taking them to one of the best in the country. Coming into this season, Texas had many question marks especially on the mound. Here we are at the beginning of May and Texas is sitting at #1 in the rankings with the 2nd lowest team ERA in the country.

Josh Elander (Tennessee), Nolan Cain (Texas), and Josh Jordan (LSU) are three of the best recruiters in the country. Given how well it worked out for Tennessee with Vitello, I would not be surprised to at least see Mississippi State entertain the idea.