Just over a week after Chris Lemonis was terminated as Mississippi State baseball’s head coach, athletic director Zac Selmon is busy leading a search to find the proud program’s next leader. Some insiders say the Bulldog skipper spot is an attractive one for elite candidates.
The latest iteration of the D1Baseball’s “Top 100 Programs” lists Mississippi State as the No. 8 best college baseball program in Division I baseball. But since the school’s first national championship in 2021 under Lemonis, MSU has faltered, going 45-69 in SEC play and missing the NCAA Tournament in two of the last three seasons.
Kendall Rogers, managing editor of D1Baseball, says the program’s foothold at the top of the game has fallen as well, noting that the maroon and white would be around 14th or 15th in the program rankings if they were done today. That being said, the school still boasts more than a few characteristics that make it among college baseball’s top jobs.
“It’s a really interesting program, because there are very few schools in the country that care about baseball as much as Mississippi State,” Rogers told SportsTalk Mississippi. “But I also don’t think it’s a program that’s without it’s challenges, and I’ll throw Ole Miss into the same boat here. You have to get a little creative at the Mississippi schools.”
In the new age of college athletics driven by NIL funding and soon-arriving revenue sharing, Rogers says prospective coaches are aiming to leap to schools who have the ability and appetite for real investment into their baseball programs.
“The interest inside the Southeastern Conference [for the Mississippi State job] is very legitimate,” Rogers continued. “Coaches are looking at who is going to fund support baseball at the highest of all levels.”
The 2021 national title broke the glass ceiling in Starkville, though 11 previous College World Series appearances, a $55 million overhaul of Dudy Noble Field, and annual top national marks in attendance made an eventual championship a foregone conclusion.
Selmon now eyes a leader who will build on the 2021 crown and long list of previous successes.
“I think by and large people have viewed Mississippi State as a top-tier to elite program through both searches,” SportsTalk Mississippi co-host Brian Hadad said, noting that the perception of the program has held steady since Lemonis was hired in 2018.
“People know the history. They know that Mississippi State fans are going to support the program financially. It has great tradition, great facilities, great fan support, but most importantly in this day and age, it has the NIL resources to bring in the kind of players you need if you want to compete for championships.”
Insiders have pointed to three top candidates as current favorites to land the job.
Brian O’Connor | Virginia head coach
The Cavalier’s manager is the shiniest name attached to the MSU search so far, compiling eye-popping success across 22 years in Charlottesville.
O’Connor secured UVA’s first national title in 2015 and has led the club to Omaha seven times, the second-most for any Division I program since 2009. The three-time National Coach of the Year was named ACC Coach of the Decade by D1Baseball and was also inducted into the American Baseball Coaches Associationo Hall of Fame in 2024.
Though the Omaha native lacks a Mississippi connection, some like Rogers and Hadad believe that Mississippi State’s higher emphasis on baseball, resources, and unrivaled fan support could lure O’Connor away.
Butch Thompson | Auburn head coach
Thompson’s seven-year stint as an associate head coach and pitching coach at Mississippi State (2009-15) under former head coach John Cohen has made him an automatic favorite, though his success on The Plains is qualification enough.
The Aberdeen native has spearheaded an illustrious stretch at Auburn, bringing the Tigers to their first CWS appearance in 22 years in 2019 and returning them to baseball’s promised land in 2022. In Thompson’s 10th year at the helm, Auburn is ranked No. 8 in the D1Baseball poll and is a contender for a top eight national seed in the 2025 NCAA Tournament.
Thompson’s Mississippi roots and previous success in Starkville as an assistant coach would make him a natural fit to lead the maroon and white.
Wes Johnson | Georgia head coach
Johnson holds the least head coaching experience of the trio, though he carries a big league pedigree in a long stint as a well-regarded pitching coach at multiple stops. Since taking over in Athens in 2024, the New Orleans native has led the Bulldogs to an 82-28 record. Year one was a loud one as Georgia nabbed a No. 7 national seed before coming a game short of the College World Series, the best season in Athens since 2008.
Johnson is another former Mississippi State assistant, serving as the pitching coach in Starkville in Cohen’s final year in 2016.
A combination of high-level assistant stops, which includes four years as the pitching coach the Minnesota Twins, SEC head coaching experience, and previous time at MSU have pushed Johnson to the top tier of candidates.
