Mississippi State University Bulldogs reached the final four of the College World Series, and within two days of elimination, they announced a new head coach in a press release from the Athletic Department after a press conference today.
Chris Lemonis is the 18th head baseball coach in MSU history. Lemonis previously coached at Indiana University and Louisville before being hired. He said it has been a crazy two days.
“It has been a whirlwind for the last probably 48 hours for me and my family,” Lemonis said. “I took notes–I had to take notes because my head has been going in different directions, calling recruits, or players, or everything else–but I can not tell you how excited we are to be here.”
Lemonis said he had a meeting with the players the night before when he talked about going to Omaha with them, and said the team will get right back to work for the upcoming season. He said he is excited to build relationships with his players.  
“I tried to not to be too rah-rah or do too much, I know these guys have learned a lot,” Lemonis said. ”My goal is to build that relationship with those guys one day at a time. I feel like I’m a good relationship coach. I enjoy coaching my guys. They are never perfect, so we will deal with things. I am just looking forward to that part as much as anything of joining this team.”
Jake Mangum, a junior centerfielder from Pearl, said the team is excited to get back to work and bring home a national championship, and Lemonis is the right guy to lead the team.
“He understands that he is stepping into–something that is really good here,” Mangum said “We are excited to welcome him in and see what he can do to make us a better team.”