Didn’t win enough for ASU’s alumni and boosters’ taste. Never made it out of a regional let alone the CWS and won fewer games than ASU’s historical pedigree, though it’s worth noting he lost his best team to the pandemic year of 2020. I’ve heard culture issues cited - treated his best players way better than his worst. That perhaps jives with the fact that Spencer Torkelson was a big fan of his - or maybe it’s just a good sign.
Hopefully he’s a solid Big Ten coach that wasn’t a fit on a different stage. He’s got a rebuilding job to do now unfortunately.
I like Bakich, but the best coach in the country? Seriously? Wouldn’t you have expected the best coach in the country to win a BT regular season championship once? I mean the new guy won one twice while at Indiana—does that make him the best coach in the universe?
Do you really think by you defaming Bakich it’ll change my mind about his abilities? He was on the same type trajectory as Beilein was in Michigan basketball. Apparently both were substandard for the Michigan administration, they’ll do better for cheaper in their minds
The 2019 world series runner up season was further than Michigan had gone since 1962, Michigan was one crooked official away from the super regional in 2022.
What’s hilarious is you referring to the B1G regular baseball season championship as an accolade? Seriously are you kidding? Does anyone from Kevin Warren thru Warde Manuel care about a B1G regular season championship? Many believe that B1G baseball needs to drop to the Div II level so they can compete. The way Michigan handed Bakich over to Clemson on a silver platter I can’t say as I disagree anymore.
With the departure of at least 10 players and a great great head coach in my opinion. It’ll probably be another 60 years (if ever) they sniff another world series. Most certainly Bakich will be there before the “New Guy” that won the stupendous B1G regular baseball season championship, twice.
You do realize that the “new guy” also reached the CWS while at IU for the only time in the school’s history, right? That IU had far less prestige as a program, and a far worse history than did Michigan before he took over? That he not only won more conference championships (which you disdain), but also more BTT titles and had more trips to the tournament than did Bakich at Michigan? Or is all that “hilarious” to you too?
“Defaming Bakich?” As someone who has actually handled defamation cases as an attorney, there wasn’t an ounce of “defamation” in my post, or even a critique of Bakich’s overall abilities, which I find to be excellent. I responded to your post that he is “the best baseball coach in the nation” with my opinion that this was a ludicrous statement. You’ve now doubled down by comparing his trajectory to that of John Beilein, which I find equally absurd–there is no planet on which Bakich would be considered by his peers as a coach on the same level as Beilein, who was voted “the best offensive coach in the country” and “the coach who does most with the least” by said peers before he ever even got to Michigan. That’s not a knock on Bakich who, again, is a very good coach–there are literally thousands of coaches across college sports who aren’t on the level of John Beilein. It is, however, reality.
And then tripling down by saying that the Michigan administration considered Beilein “substandard” because, after extending and substantially raising him the year before, they couldn’t keep him from his second dalliance in a row with the pros? Or that Michigan considered Bakich “substandard” because they wouldn’t essentially double his salary after a year when it took a hot weekend to salvage a season which had been extremely disappointing until then? There are plenty of things I can criticize about Warde Manuel and the Michigan sports administration in general, but none require an overinflation of a very good coach like Bakich into some sort of demigod, or a false narrative.
One thing that’s really hard to do is to keep your employees from taking better jobs. Was the comment about Beilein being seen as substandard an attempt at comedy?
Do you know that Michigan didn’t make an offer to keep him? And not surprisingly, Bakich took a better baseball job where it is a lot easier to recruit and win long term? And even if Michigan matched the enormous salary that Clemson is paying him, that he may have left anyways because Clemson is a better job? Do you know any of the behind the scenes details? Or are you just projecting without actual knowledge?
Bakich was already the highest paid coach in the conference. Almost double the next closest coach. He almost doubled his salary by going to Clemson and also wanted more money pumped into the baseball program. Not really sustainable for a non revenue baseball team in the Midwest.
Absurd that I compared Bakich and Beilein? In my thought it didn’t seem absurd at all, both coached their respective teams to a national runner up in their 6th season.
Yes, you know what Bakich was paid and you know what Clemson is paying, but you have no idea if Michigan offered a pay raise and he said thanks but no thanks.
Big Ten Preview Cross Country race is tomorrow morning in Ann Arbor. Looks like Michigan, Northwestern (women only), Iowa, Minnesota, Rutgers, Michigan State (men only) and Ohio State will be there. Michigan is hosting the Big Ten Cross Championships right around Halloween.