Last week the MSU baseball family was able to welcome our new head coach, John Cohen. Cohen was an outstanding Diamond Dawg in the late 80's and early 90's. He was a clutch hitter and one of the best we've ever had. Cohen enjoyed success at a couple of head coaching positions, most notably the last few years at Kentucky. He brought Kentucky their first SEC baseball championship since the invention of the Model T. His teams have been known for good hitting and aggressive baserunning. From the beginning, I was hoping that MSU would look at three coaches I believed were best for MSU - John Cohen, Tommy Raffo, and former assistant and current UAB coach Brian Shoop. I am very pleased with the outcome.
On a sad note, the Diamond Dawgs have to say goodbye to the previous coaching staff. Most disappointing is to see the departure of Tommy Raffo and Wade Hedges. I was blessed to meet both of these guys at a Father-Son baseball camp this last January. Tommy Raffo was an All-American and a 15-year assistant coach at MSU. He was one of the classiest guys in the college game. I know that he will land a head coaching position soon. My brother has posted a great blog farewell to Coach Raffo here. Wade Hedges was an assistant and ran the camps. I called Coach Hedges today to see if the summer camps were still on (they're not) and told him I wished him and his family the best.
Sadly, former coach and legend Ron Polk made some regretful comments this past weekend. He will always be a legend and the standard that coaches at both MSU and in the SEC will be measured against for years to come. I hope he has a change of heart soon and withdraws his comments about Greg Byrne, but I doubt he will.
I for one believe that the future of MSU baseball looks bright.
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