The best hires we could make for baseball, IMO

Jun 12, 2015, 12:20 AM

For Clemson to truly make a home run hire (no pun intended), here's the 5 coaches on my short-list (in decreasing order of my desire to hire)

1. Jim Schlossnagle - TCU: Still in postseason play, Schlossnagle has validated his prestige as a head coach in college baseball. Having to compete against big programs not only within the state of Texas (Texas, Houston, Texas A&M, Houston Baptist, Rice), but also the Dallas-Fort Worth area (Dallas Baptist), he's shown he can recruit and develop talent to compete and succeed against top programs. He coached at Clemson as an assistant in 1993 before leaving for Tulane. Outside of his direct ties to Clemson, he has ties to the Carolinas through Elon (as both a player and a coach). Unfortunately, Schlossnagle's success will make him a very popular target across the nation, and Clemson may have to pay a very pretty penny to lure him back to Tiger Town.

2. Kevin McMullan - Virginia (assistant): The 2009 and 2012 Assistant Coach of the Year award winner would no doubt be a great hire for the Tigers. With all the errors the Jack Leggett teams appeared to commit, McMullan would quickly fix this area. Watching just a few innings of any UVA baseball game, you can see how well coached their team is. McMullan is big on discipline and fundamentals, and errors are not a part of UVA's game. He's also incredible at scouting and developing talent, as seen with former UVA/current Washington Nationals/US National Team/MLB All-Star 3rd Baseman Ryan Zimmerman, who made an immediate impact in the pros. Virginia has been very consistently great over the past several years, and McMullan is a large part of that. He will be an excellent head coach one day, and Clemson is a great place for him to prove that.

3. Billy McMillon - Portland Sea Dogs (Red Sox AA Affiliate): A candidate not often mentioned, or even probably considered by our athletic department, but a #### good candidate nonetheless. McMillon was a great outfielder for Clemson back in the day, and his game translated into a solid MLB career as well. McMillon was the manager for the Greenville Drive (Single-A), and eventually was promoted to becoming manager of the Portland Sea Dogs (Double-A) in 2014. McMillon was promoted to manager of the Drive in 2010. In two seasons, he led Greenville to a 155–124 (.556) record and one playoff appearance. Then, on January 20, 2012, he was promoted to manager of the Salem Red Sox of the Class A Carolina League. After finishing one game under .500 in 2012, he was re-hired as Salem's manager for the 2013 season, and led his team to the Carolina League championship. Salem won the second half Southern Division title, and then beat the Myrtle Beach Pelicans and the Potomac Nationals in the playoffs. The Salem Red Sox won their final 11 games during the regular season and playoffs. His managerial debut in 2014 with the Portland Sea Dogs produced a first-place finish in the Eastern League's Northern Division with an 88–54 (.620) record. McMillon was named the league's *****MANAGER OF THE YEAR*****. This move would be a high risk-high reward scenario, as McMillon displays the potential to succeed, but he lacks any college coaching experience.

4. Matthew LeCroy - Washington Nationals (Bullpen): Brother of current Clemson assistant/ace recruiter Bradley LeCroy, LeCroy has displayed the tools and traits necessary to succeed as a head coach. During his tenure at Clemson, he was named to the 1996 U.S. Olympic Baseball Team and helped the team to a bronze medal after losing to Cuba and Japan, before defeating Nicaragua in the bronze medal game. LeCroy has coached some ace pitchers in Washington, and has worked his way into that position after starting as just a single-A pitching coach. LeCroy has a high ceiling, but this move would be risky for the Tigers, as he's not proven himself as a head coach at any level, nor does he have any college coaching experience.

5. Monte Lee - College of Charleston: A popular candidate amongst Tiger fans, Lee has succeeded during his time with the Cougars. He certainly understand the importance of snagging in-state recruits, and he is an EXCELLENT talent evaluator, which often leads to finding recruiting gems within the state (IE: 4th rd. pick Carl Wise from White Knoll High, and Freshman All-American Ryan Brown from Lexington High). Lee would provide a significant upgrade in bringing in in-state talent than Leggett provided, and if nothing else, he could get recruits in to Clemson that would have otherwise gone to SC. My big drawback with Lee is that his biggest successes occured after CofC left the Southern Conference for the MUCH weaker Colonial Conference (which was last year, the same year they made their post season run). Yes, he knows the area and is a solid coach, but transitioning from the Colonial to the ACC is a huge transition. I'm not entirely convinced he has what it takes to build a program up at this high of a level, much like their last successful coach Pawlowski experienced at Auburn. Do I think he could succeed here? Absolutely. I just think there are **better** candidates we could pursue, although I would be happy if we did in fact hire Lee.

Message was edited by: 803Tiger72®

Message was edited by: 803Tiger72®

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Excellent assessments. I think getting Schloss from TCU will be very difficult as he already has a good salary and we would def have to open up the wallet. Plus, having watched them play last weekend at their home field....their stadium is top notch as I assume prob are rest of the facilities. He's also inked til 2020 - so, prob a nice buyout as well. I think he is a stretch. But the others I think are def possibilities. Everyone does seem to be sold on Lee....not arguing he wouldn't do well here as he does have an excellent eye for talent and has recruited very well - esp in this state. I wonder about the UVA guy....UVA ball seems to be a little slow/boring....would he bring that same concept? I think Billy would be a great hire too but he's not getting any recognition it seems. All everyone seems to be focused on is Lee and swirling all these rumors that he's coming back this weekend to sign papers. I don't believe that.....could be true but not sure I buy it because DRad said he was going to interview some still playing (TCU, FL, Vandy though I think Corbin is very long shot). I would think those guys are focused on CWS and not make themselves available until they are done.

Just my 2 cents.

The best hires we could make for baseball, IMO

Re: The best hires we could make for baseball, IMO

Re: The best hires we could make for baseball, IMO

Re: The best hires we could make for baseball, IMO

Re: The best hires we could make for baseball, IMO

Re: The best hires we could make for baseball, IMO

Re: The best hires we could make for baseball, IMO

Re: The best hires we could make for baseball, IMO

Re: The best hires we could make for baseball, IMO

Re: The best hires we could make for baseball, IMO

Matthew and Bradley Lecroy are NOT brothers.

Re: How about getting some things right before posting. You

Re: The best hires we could make for baseball, IMO

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