It looks like some order is finally being restored to the Mississippi State men’s golf team.
With the spring’s interim coach, Tyler Hill, out of the picture and two-time head coach Greg Martin almost a year removed, the team can establish itself under its new leader, Clay Homan.
“We’re focused on building the team to where it was when they were winning (Southeastern Conference) championships in 1996 and 1997,” Homan said. “It’s definitely going to be a challenge, but it’s definitely do-able.”
The SEC titles Homan spoke of came just after his departure from the program. During his stint as a player from 1991-1995, he earned four varsity letters, playing for two years under Martin.
Four years after graduating, Homan served under Martin again-this time as an assistant coach at Rice University. When Martin abruptly left Rice to return to coach at State in the fall of 2000, Homan took over as head coach just a few weeks before the team’s opening tournament. He came back to MSU after leading the Owls for three years.
“It was the perfect scenario for me to come back,” said Homan, a native of Fulton. “It was definitely a step up because, first of all, I was coming home. I had a chance to be near my family and my friends and have the opportunity to coach in the best league in the nation-the SEC.”
Homan’s homecoming ended a summer of suspense for the Bulldog golfers. Junior Joe Deraney said he and his teammates didn’t find out who their new coach was until they returned to school in August.
“But most of us knew Clay because we’ve seen him at Rice, and we know he’s a State graduate,” Deraney said. “It’s always good to have someone in the family coming back to coach.”
According to several of the players, the MSU golf family has been functioning smoothly for the first time in a while thanks to its new leader.
“I think he’s brought us closer together,” Deraney said. “I think last year we were in disarray at some points. Three of us would go here; three of us would do something else. We weren’t really united.”
Homan’s ability to provide constructive criticism can only help his relationship with his students, as can his calm demeanor and youth.
“Everything is from such a positive perspective, and that’s so refreshing,” junior college transfer Matt Mooney said. “It’s, ‘If you do this, then it’ll be good,’ and not, ‘Don’t do this!’ In golf, it’s all about thinking positive anyway.”
“I think my personality is one that’s pretty easy to get along with,” Homan said. “I think they can relate to me pretty well since I’m not too far from their age. There are so many young coaches now in college. It’s really going toward that.”
Deraney says that Homan’s personality may be the reason he gets along with the players better than Martin. As for his age, 30, he’s been working to make sure the team can take him seriously.
“He knows the golf swing,” Deraney said. “We trust his opinion about our swing, which is very important because golf is kind of psychological. When you have a coach you trust and believe in, everything gets a lot easier.
“He goes at 6:15 in the mornings when we work out, and he works out with us. When we go running, he runs with us.
“He’s done the little stuff that, sometimes, our old coach didn’t do. I wouldn’t say so much that he didn’t do it; he just did it
in a different way. In the end, Clay’s laid back attitude is probably a little bit better for the guys.”
While the team Homan inherited only has two players from Mississippi, his recruiting policy should favor young Mississippian golfers.
“Those are the ones I want to go after first,” Homan said. “From my own experience of being from Mississippi, I felt I had a tremendous amount of loyalty to the university. I want kids that’ll come back in 10 years and contribute to the golf program for years to come.”