OT: Maryland baseball coach Vaughn leaves for Alabama
The Big Ten loses another great coach to a southern school. Vaughn will be replacing the disgraced coach Brad Bohannon who was caught up in a gambling scandal at Alabama. Big loss for Maryland.
Northern schools just need to secede from the NCAA and start their own summer league. The schedule is an absurd advantage for warmer regions.
I'd love to go to UM baseball games in June and July rather than March and April. I think attendance would be much higher.
Which elite baseball stars would agree to this arrangement? No, they'll continue to play at southern schools during the season as it's currently structured, so they can be seen during the summer in the Cape Cod and other traditional summer showcase leagues.
speaking *completely* out of ignorance here, but is that true? they’ll get found either way, won’t they? and couldn’t the big ten *become* a summer showcase league on par with the cape cod league, or the league rob neyer runs in portland?
as i say - completely ignorant here, happy to be persuaded otherwise 👍
Short answer: B1G baseball doesn’t come close to the talent on hand at the current summer showcase leagues. Elite baseball prospects are better off playing in those showcase leagues than in the B1G, so recruiting would be damn near impossible.
The MLB draft is also held in the second week of July, so you’re talking about losing the best draft-eligible players you DO have mid-season at that point. It just doesn’t work.
I'm not really worried about watching elite star players. We'll never get them to come here anyways if we stick with the NCAA. I just want to see some decent baseball between UM and MSU/OSU/Purdue/etc at the stadium during the summer. It's fun.
I mean that is just factually incorrect. Clark Elliott was a 2nd round pick last year, Hajjar was a 2nd round pick the year before that, Criswell 2nd round the year before that, Tommy Henry and Karl Kauffman 2nd round the year before that. Bakich was bringing in elite talent every year.
The Big Ten consistently has players drafted high, but they also increase their draft stock every year playing in the Cape Cod or the Northwoods League, as Bakich always had his guys sent to both Leagues after the college season was over. They are not improving their MLB draft stock playing MSU, OSU or Purdue, its from their performances in the wood-bat summer leagues, or vs high-profile southern teams during the spring season. I can tell you that with great certainty.
That wasn't sustainable and Bakich knew it and that is one of the reasons he likely left. Once again there are no B1G teams in the CWS with Michigan and Indiana being the only two teams in this century who have qualified The trend is for northern schools to continue to get weaker versus the Southern schools so why fight it? The best players in our own state don't even play at Michigan.
It's fun attending Cape Cod league games.
Good luck competing vs the Cape Cod and the Northwoods League in the summertime. Those two leagues combine for 250-300 MLB college draft picks per year. Hundreds of Big Ten kids play in these Leagues as they are matched up with SEC, Big 12, ACC, Sun Belt, D2 All-Americans, etc. so the competition is better than what the Big 10 provides. With the MLB Draft being in July, this also makes the "Northern teams succeeding" a pipe dream.
The Northwoods League draws significantly bigger crowds than any of the Big Ten schools as they simulate Minor League Baseball and have their own ESPN contract, so the Big Ten can't compete with their exposure and preparation for the MiLB.
So essentially, it will never happen. Sorry to be a debby-downer, but its the reality of college baseball. Frankly, if you're a coach advocating for something like that, it would actually hurt you with recruiting.
Yep.
There's good content on this blog, but this topic, along with a few others, is a dead horse. Every time summer B1G baseball (or the Showcase, or MSU as a non-annual football opponent) comes up, the "Gretchen, stop trying to make Fetch happen. It's not going to happen!" vibes get stronger.
Dissagree. The existing summer leagues are already great for the players. No one would play.
This attitude is so absurdly whiny. So there's one sport where the Big Ten has to compete as a mid-major. That means the whole NCAA baseball system that suits much of the country just fine should be scrapped? The Big Ten is better at Hockey and Wrestling, the south has baseball. They're all relatively niche sports. It's really ok for there to be one of these types of sports where it's a real surprise if Michigan succeeds, especially when it gives smaller schools in the same sport a chance to be a much more relevant national player.
Thank you for this.
Why not use the Michigan money cannon and build indoor baseball and softball stadiums? Then they can host southern schools in the early spring and not go on the road for the first two months of the season.
While we're at it, might as well make it a retractable dome. We could lessen the financial burden by assigning this task to a team of architecture & design and engineering undergrads as a summer internship project.
I'm just here for the obligatory "Fire Bakich!"
I still think Warde let him go. To think Clemson's athletic department can afford him but we cant is absolutely crazy. If Cincy can be relevant in CFB and Gonzaga can be a power in CBB than the power of the Michigan brand shouldnt be letting coaches like him go. The saddest part was hearing the blog go full Eeyore. If the guy coaches you to a championship game then you dont let him go because there is no way you can field a championship team.
1) Warde couldn’t offer him a job in a more baseball friendly weather environment
2) Warde couldn’t offer him a job in a more baseball friendly conference
Like it or not, those two things make his job much easier at Clemson regardless of the money.
I don’t really see how your references to Gonzaga and Cinci stack up here; basketball is an indoor sport and plenty of other Midwest teams are good at football. There is not one upper plains / New England / Midwest college that is consistently a player at the college World Series to my knowledge.
Also: None of us know what Bakich’s career aspirations are. If Bakich has his sights on jobs higher up the ladder, where do you think he is most likely going to have success at between Michigan and Clemson given what I just typed?
Baseball isnt basketball or football truly but an Gonzaga AD has about 1million more reasons to throw the towel in then we do on baseball.
Rumblings of Warde giving him a handshake and a "good luck" ring true to me. Listen the board has decided that we have to take a full L in baseball and I get it. I just wont ever agree on that. If Warde made a full blitz to him and it fell on def ears then I am totally wrong but if he did nothing and people here support that I just dont know.
You just seem hell-bent on looking at Michigan baseball through the scope of Michigan football. Where we’re this great big power and we’re just a small step away from consistently competing with the major programs. It’s just not reality.
Michigan baseball is a mid-major program. The B1G conference is a mid-major conference. No matter how badly you want to throw big money at a coach with middling results, that’s not going to change. That doesn’t mean Michigan can’t or won’t make a deep run once in a while, but Michigan will never be able to do so consistently. Bakich, was never able to get Michigan to do so consistently.
Why you insist on Michigan paying big boy money for mid-major results is beyond me. So yes, I’m perfectly fine with Warde simply letting a guy walk who has missed the NCAA tournament 4 out of his 9 seasons and made it past regionals just once in his tenure. One magical season does not mean Michigan should throw the kitchen sink at keeping a guy who has been otherwise average.
Bakich is a good coach. But he’s not going to take Michigan to new heights. He’s not worth to Michigan what he was offered by Clemson. Plain and simple. There is absolutely zero logical argument for Michigan spending that type of money to barely squeak into the tournament and get knocked out in regionals, or miss the tournament entirely. Which is what you’ve gotten 8 out of 9 seasons from Bakich.
Yeah lets give up. Good idea. I was a fool.
Well you got one thing right, you are a fool. As I’ve stated multiple times, it’s not a matter of “giving up.” The structure of the sport itself makes it impossible for a northern school to compete nationally with any consistency. It doesn’t matter who coaches Michigan or how much you pay them. Reality is what it is, you can either accept the real world or you can continue being a fool. That’s up to you.
You can’t compare football and basketball to baseball. Those aren’t regional sports dependent on the weather.
Now, Michigan COULD pay Bakich. It’s not a question of whether or not they can afford it, it’s a question of how wise of an investment it is to pay over a million dollars for a baseball coach in a mid-major conference (if we’re being honest with ourselves, the B1G is mid-major caliber in baseball). It doesn’t make sense to spend like the big boys if you can’t consistently compete with them. You may find a small window of success here and there, but it’s not going to happen with any consistency and it doesn’t matter who the coach is or how much you pay them.
For example: Bakich was UM’s coach for 9 seasons (I’m going to completely ignore the 15 games played during the covid season for his 10th season). He never won the regular season title. He won the conference tournament just twice. He made the NCAA tournament 5 times and made it out of regionals just once.
The team had a magical run for one season, aside from that he was pretty pedestrian as our coach. Why exactly should Michigan pay top dollar to make the tournament 50% of the time and make it past regionals once a decade? Don’t get me wrong, I think Bakich is a good baseball coach. But he’s not worth what Clemson is paying him to a program like Michigan. Paying him big time money isn’t going to make Michigan a big time program.
Paying him big time money isn’t going to make Michigan a big time program
You dont think Bakich had us heading in that direction? Did you see what he was recruiting? You think a bargain coach and sure fire mediocre results are the correct move?
Return on investment GTFO. Is this board for real? The fans and boosters want the best possible outcomes this isnt a damn garage sale. He was putting us in position to be the best of the BIgTen at least. When I wonder why we sit on our hands for 2 years during NIL or why Hunter makes 1/10th what Eddy does things get a lot clearer sometimes. Warde may not be the AD we need but he may be the AD we deserve.
$97,000,000 surplus and Bakich as our baseball coach
or
$100.000,000 surplus
I know my choice if Im AD. Nobody is going to give 2 shits about cost savings and $100mil surplus isnt doing shit for us with mediocre coaches.
Listen if Bakich wanted nothing to do with us that is fine and I am out of line. I just hope we went toe to toe with Clemson on a compensation offer.
He was putting us in position to be the best of the BIgTen at least
Based on what? He never won the regular season title. Not once in 9 full seasons. He made the NCAA tournament 5 times in those 9 years, needing to win the conference tournament to sneak in his final year. Making it past the Regionals just once. If that’s “putting us in position to be the best of the Big Ten,” then you don’t need to pay top dollar for those results. Making the tournament 50% of the time and making it out of regionals once a decade isn’t worth making someone one of the highest paid coaches while playing in a mid-major conference. It’s not rocket science.
You dont think Bakich had us heading in that direction?
No. Full stop. Bakich wasn’t coming remotely close to making Michigan a top program. Top half of the Big Ten, sure. But Top half of a mid-major conference isn’t a very high bar. Top program nationally, not even remotely close. One Cinderella run does not a top program make.
I also don’t know where you’re coming up with this $100m surplus figure. But I highly suggest you look into how college athletic budgets work.
Fire Bakich!
So I take it you couldn’t find a source for that $100 million surplus figure then? Michigan reported a $200k surplus for 2023, projects to break even in 2024. So you’re GROSSLY over exaggerating there.
Bakich was a good coach. But there are a lot of good coaches out there. It doesn’t behoove a mid-major program with middling results under that coach to turn around and pay him like he’s an elite coach at an elite program. Michigan athletics makes money precisely BECAUSE they don’t over-pay for mediocrity in sports that we can’t compete in and nobody around campus cares about. That’s reality, feel free to join us in the real world anytime.
I appreciate that getting the head coach job for SEC baseball is a great career move, but Alabama? All the bad vibes coaching there just bounces off of Saban and skewers adjacent head coaches.
To think that Bama baseball is a dirty program and the football program is squeaky clean is just nuts.
Can you imagine all the NCAA smoke we would catch if we recruited the number 1-2 class for 15 years straight? It would make the Fab five look like extra stretching time or a free cheeseburger.
What would it compare to cream cheese on a bagel?
I like the summer baseball idea. The addition of USC and UCLA make it difficult. If the B1G adopted summer baseball and persuaded enough others join suit perhaps a compromise could be struck to delay the season a month.
If we're honest with ourselves, we're just not that interested in baseball. Yes, there was more interest when Bakich took the team to the CWS. But the minute we came back down to earth, the interest waned a lot. I paid attention to how many people commented on baseball posts this season -- not that many. And you can't blame the record. When football floundered, there were still hundreds of comments on some posts, and definitely a sustained interest even if it was mostly complaining. Same with basketball. It just didn't make sense for Warde to pay Bakich the kind of money (and provide him with infrastructure support) that Clemson could because some people feel better if we're doing well (but don't put their money into the program like they do with football). Watching baseball in crappy weather isn't fun, so who's going to spend money on that? As for a summer league, I guess it's possible but all the best players are going to play in the Cape Cod or North Woods leagues because they want to show what they've got against the best competition, which is guys from the SEC and ACC.
It just didn't make sense for Warde to pay Bakich the kind of money (and provide him with infrastructure support) that Clemson could because some people feel better if we're doing well
And like I mentioned above, the “doing well” aspect of Bakich’s tenure is a bit over exaggerated. He gets a ton of credit for the CWS run, and that’s fine. But that was the only time in his 9 full seasons that Michigan advanced past regionals. We missed the tournament entirely in 4 of the 9 seasons.
If Michigan were consistently making the tournament and advancing to Super Regionals a few times, maybe I’d feel different. But his success at Michigan wasn’t worth Michigan paying what Clemson was willing to pay. I have absolutely no issue with Warde not getting into that bidding war given what Bakich accomplished at Michigan and the stature of the program itself.