Bakich living a dream come true as head coach of the Tigers

Bakich speaks to the media Friday (Photo by Merrell Mann).

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sun Jan 29 07:00:05 GMT-04:00 2023

CLEMSON – Erik Bakich walked into the Clemson dugout to face the media ahead of the season’s first practice, looked out at the sunny skies and multiple TV cameras, and broke out into a megawatt smile. Clemson in January is a lot different than Ann Arbor.

Bakich took over as the head coach of the Tigers last June after spending the previous decade as the head coach at Michigan. Bakich noted the difference right off the bat.

“We have a saying, 70 (degrees) and sunny in Ann Arbor, but here it might actually really be 70 and sunny,” Bakich said. “Let’s not kid ourselves, it gets a little chilly here too. We just don’t have those twenty-degree days. The weather was a talking point at Michigan; we can’t control the weather. Even on the days here when it’s cold and rainy, we’re going to treat it like it’s a day like today, it’s beautiful, 70 and sunny, it may just have to be that type of weather in between the ears.”

Another difference? Michigan will play its first 12 games on the road this season and won’t play a home game until March 8th. Last season, the Wolverines played their first 17 on the road and didn’t return home until mid-March.

Clemson will have its first seven games in the friendly confines of Doug Kingsmore and won’t leave the state of South Carolina until late March.

“It’s much different. There have been seasons when seven of the first eight weeks were getting on an airplane,” Bakich said. “I’ve always liked playing at home, not just the home crowd and the environment playing at home, but the consistency that comes with that. Eating the food you want to eat, sleeping in your own bed, those types of things. Hopefully, that will allow us to be consistent.

“The teams in the northern half of the country are dealing with a lot of x-factors and they might not have many days like today when there’s not a cloud in the sky, and it’s beautiful. They have fewer reps of live competition, seeing balls in the air, couple that with extensive travel, another reason to move the season back a bit, but we’ll take it. I pinch myself every day that it’s January and we’re looking at blue skies like this.”

Bakich then took the time to once again look out at the green grass and sunny skies and said he’s thankful for the opportunity to return Clemson baseball to its former glory.

“It’s a dream come true to me,” he said. “I look out and see all of you and Doug Kingsmore Stadium above the video board out there and it’s just like, 'Wow.' This brings back a lot of nostalgia and the feelings of being here for the first time. It’s that deep appreciation of getting to be at such an awesome place that values their baseball program and has such a passionate fan base and following in the community, whether it be a media following or six thousand people in the stands. Just being a part of it, returning Clemson baseball to where it should be, competing to win our first National Championship, being a championship-caliber program.”

Bakich said all the pieces are in place to make that happen.

“The approach hasn’t changed, but the infrastructure is already here, the caliber of players are already here, the stadium is already here, the support administratively is here,” he said. “The passionate fan base, the passionate media base is here. So now it’s just making sure it’s all these puzzle pieces putting them together to make sure these guys reach their potential.”