For the third time in 13 years the Gator baseball team is in need of a head coach. Florida dismissed Pat McMahon after six seasons following a second straight year in which the Gators failed to earn an NCAA Tournament bid.
Among the possibilities out there is an up-and-coming coach like Louisville’s Dan McDonnell who has his team in the College World Series. McDonnell is in his first year with the Cardinals after serving as the top assistant at Ole Miss and building a reputation as an outstanding recruiter and talent evaluators.
Or Florida could go for a more established guy like Mike Bianco of Ole Miss who is from Seminole, Florida and played junior college ball at Indian River Community College. Tim Corbin of Vanderbilt is probably the top name in the country right now despite coming up short in the regional tournament in Nashville.
I’ve also speculated Florida might want to consider a former Gator with professional baseball experience even if there’s no college coaching on the resume. Would Mike Stanley or Robbie Thompson be worth thinking about? What about Rick Eckstein who played at Florida, was an assistant at Georgia and now serves as the hitting coach for the St. Louis Cardinals’ Triple-A affiliate in Memphis?
Who would you hire?
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