Bridging the Gap Between Football and Baseball Talking about Cord Sandberg

One of the quietest recruitments of the 2013 signing class belonged to one of the best prospects: Cord Sandberg.

He committed all the way back in June of 2012 and held firm to that, never wavering. Then his was the first signed letter of intent received on National Signing Day.

He seems like a great kid, with a good head on his shoulders. In a recent interview he said he wouldn’t know if he’ll sign with a major league baseball team until he gets drafted in June, but if he comes to MSU he will play both football and baseball.

Most State fans feel like there’s a pretty small chance he’ll ever play a down in Starkville. Maybe, maybe not. But you’ve got to admire his honesty with the MSU coaching staff – they know exactly what’s going on here. And you have to commend Dan Mullen and John Cohen wanting to work together to allow Cord to play both sports.

Sandberg is a dynamic athlete, a 4-star quarterback and what would amount to being a 5-star outfielder. For him to cut out all the drama, and not get full of himself, that is a good sign.

Just for argument’s sake, let’s say he ends up coming to Mississippi State.

In football, he’ll be a true freshman this fall behind 5th year senior Tyler Russell and 3rd year Sophomore Dak Prescott, alongside fellow true freshman Damian Williams. Every MSU quarterback since Wesley Carroll in 2007 has been redshirted during their true freshman season. And before that every QB since Wayne Madkin in 1998.

In baseball, he’d surely start right away, either in center or right field. Hunter Renfroe (RF) is projected to be a high draft pick this summer, and C.T. Bradford (CF) may be drafted high enough to leave school early, so there’s likely to be an open spot for him. With either Renfroe and/or Bradford leaving, you’d have to feel good about Sandberg replacing one of them and not missing a beat. Or what about that outfield if all 3 of them were there for 2014?!

At the end of the day, Sandberg will likely have a pro baseball career rather than football. If he’s already debating going pro in baseball out of high school, then he’d surely go ahead and sign a major league contract after three years of playing baseball for the Diamond Dawgs. That would be in 2016, and after playing three years of college football.

Sandberg seems like a great prospect, but what are the chances of him over-taking Dak Prescott and playing before his 4th year on campus (after Dak graduates ? Dak has two and a half years (spring 2011) under Mullen and Koenning before Cord will ever have his first practice. Prescott has a world of potential, so barring an injury, I just don’t see it happening unless Sandberg actually reaches Tim Tebow level.

So we know Cord Sandberg would have a major impact of John Cohen’s teams from 2014-16 if he comes to Mississippi State. But what about football? If he gets drafted after the 2016 baseball season he probably would not have done much more than run the wildcat for a couple of years.

There’s always the chance he could come back to play football for the ’16 season after a summer of minor league baseball. After all, it would most likely be his time to be the starting quarterback. I’ve never talked to him personally, so I have no real idea what he’s thinking or what his priorities/goals are, but this could be an option.

As far as 2017, I don’t see any scenario where he’s on the football field. He could possibly come back for his shot to be a SEC starting quarterback in ’16, but after doing that and going through an entire minor league baseball season, there’s no reason to come back to football after dedicating yourself to baseball. So if Sandberg comes to MSU, we might as well play him a little on the gridiron – there’s no point in redshirting.

This is all way in advance, and it may very well be all for nothing because Cord never enrolls at MSU. But he might. At least 3 years of a free college education with quality preparation for the pros in either sport is a pretty good offer too. Hopefully he will come to Starkville, but for now we should root for him to make the best decision for him and his family.