Former Kentucky head coach and Mississippi State University player John Cohen is expected to be named head baseball coach at MSU during a 1 p.m. press conference Saturday [June 7], according to several media outlets.While boarding a flight from Louisville, Ky. bound for Starkville, incoming MSU athletic director Greg Byrne told the Clarion-Ledger‘s Kyle Veazey that the university has hired the best available candidate to lead the Diamond Dawgs.
“We were charged at the beginning to find the best baseball coach for Mississippi State,” Byrne said. “We said at the beginning that we will do a national search, and through that national search, that we will interview multiple candidates. We had a lot of discussion with people in the college and professional baseball world.”
Details on Cohen’s contract with MSU has not yet been released, but the Louisville Courier-Journal reported Cohen turned down a substantial contract with the University of Kentucky.
“[Mitch] Barnhart [UK’s Athletic Director] said Cohen was offered – and turned down – a new contract that would have been among the five best in the nation for a college baseball coach,” according to the Courier-Journal‘s report.
According to Veazey, Cohen’s jet arrived in Starkville Friday evening. A contingent of about three dozen fans gathered to greet the new coach at the George M. Bryan Airport.
Not everyone is pleased with the new bulldog’s hire.
Former MSU head coach Ron Polk expressed his resentment with Byrne’s hire to Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal writer Gregg Ellis by phone Friday afternoon, which Ellis subsequently reported on his blog.
In his resignation letter, Polk endorsed current assistant coach Tommy Raffo as his replacement and said if appointed, Raffo would make the transition smooth for the players and the baseball program.
“Unfortunately, our new athletic director slapped me in face and punched me in the stomach,” Polk told Ellis. “He also slapped Tommy Raffo in the face and punched him in the stomach after 15 years of loyalty to Mississippi State. He did the same to our players, their parents and signees. I think I have more knowledge about the game than young Mr. Byrne.”
Polk continued, threatening to sever financial ties with MSU, according to Ellis’ blog.
“. As soon as I get back to Starkville, I’m going to make sure the MSU Foundation is taken out of my will,” Polk said in the blog entry. “.And that’s a lot of money. I’m going to ask former players who give to quit. If you’re asking if I’m mad, then yes. I’m mad.”
According to published reports by the Clarion-Ledger, Polk intends to send Byrne a letter asking for the removal of all instances of Polk’s name from the baseball field.
“It will remain down until [Byrne] gets fired or somebody runs him off,” Polk told the Clarion-Ledger.
During the past five years leading the Wildcats, Cohen has sported a 175-112-1 record. In his other tenure as head coach, Cohen led Northwestern State to a 146-84 record.
The Reflector will have continuing coverage of the Cohen hire and reaction during the following days.