With the move on Tuesday of Kansas State head coach Brad Hill resigning at the end of the year and Rice’s Wayne Graham not returning, it is time to look at some of the other jobs which could open up this summer.
Arizona State’s Tracy Smith
The alumni around the Arizona State program has been extremely vocal about the general decline of the Sun Devils program under Smith, while players have been quitting the program on multiple occasions. He is currently in his fourth season with the program and they are currently under .500 at a 19-27 and looking likely to finish under .500 for the second straight season. It will be the second straight year that the Sun Devils have missed the NCAA Tournament after being a perennial power for the past 60 seasons. They have had only two seasons with less than 30 wins, and they are on the way to making it three in 2018 to make Tracy responsible for two out of the three worst seasons in school history.
Penn State’s Rob Cooper
The Penn State baseball program has always struggled with one NCAA Appearance (2000) in the last 42 years, and things are not getting better in Happy Valley. The Nittany Lions are currently 11-30 with an abysmal 3-17 record in the Big Ten. Head coach Rob Cooper is currently in his fifth season with his best season being in 2016 when he went 28-27, while winning 18 games in every other season. Penn State has no excuse to not be better as they have some of the best facilities in college baseball at their current stadium, which is on campus and shared with the State College Spikes.
Notre Dame’s Mik Aoki
The Notre Dame program has been to the NCAA Tournament under Mik Aoki in only one season (2015) during his seven previous seasons at the school. This year does not look much better as they are currently 23-25 with a 12-15 mark in ACC play. The expectations for all sports at Notre Dame is to be a consistent national contender and the run that Paul Mainieri had with the Irish in the late 90’s makes this also the expectations on the baseball diamond. This is one of the key ACC jobs to keep your eyes on.
Kansas Ritch Price
The Kansas Baseball program has been led by Ritch Price since the 2003 campaign. The Jayhawks have made three Regional appearances in that time with the latest one coming in the 2014 season. This season is more mediocre baseball as they are currently 22-25, while being 5-12 in Big 12 play. Does Kansas decide to make a change since arch-rival Kansas State has already announced a coaching change this week?
Georgia Tech’s Danny Hall
The Georgia Tech Baseball program has been led by Danny Hall since the 1994 season and has continually made the NCAA Tournament throughout his run, but they have not been back to Omaha since the 2006 season. Hall has been a consistent winner of 35-plus games, but last season saw the squad finish under .500 while this year’s squad is likely not going to get 35 wins with a 27-22 mark heading into this weekend. I doubt that Georgia Tech makes a move as Hall’s two sons are currently on the team and it would look terrible.
Five other Coaches on the Hot Seat
Daron Schoenrock (Memphis)
Bo Durkac (Illinois State)
Dan Hubbs (USC)
George Horton (Oregon)
Marty Lees (Washington State)
Who do you think will be gone at the end of the year? Leave your comments below.
