John Cohen will enter his eighth season at Mississippi State next month – and it could be a make or break year for him.
MSU baseball took a nose dive in 2015 all the way to last place in the SEC. Not just the West, the entire conference….by 2.5 games. It’s quite a drop from playing for the national title just two years prior. Despite that, the Diamond Dawgs are ranked #11 in the Collegiate Newspaper preseason top 25 for 2016.
Why is State ranked so high? Recruiting.
John Cohen has put together three straight top 10 recruiting classes. THREE STRAIGHT. Back-to-back-to-back.
- 2013: ranked 2nd
- 2014: ranked 6th
- 2015: ranked 6th
If the 2016 team can’t win, when can you?
In baseball, three recruiting classes is all there is when you’re talking about elite talent because after three years they’re eligible to go pro….and if they’re good enough they usually do. So here it is – three years of stock-piling talent, it’s now or never.
With the fan support Mississippi State gets and a brand new stadium coming that will be the envy of all college baseball, there’s no doubt this program should have high expectations for its coach. I’m not talking about College World Series or bust – but let’s make a Regional at the bare minimum. MSU should be competing to host a Regional for sure with the kind of talent on board.
Look at all these comments…
RHP @cstratton28 in 2012
— Mississippi State Baseball (@HailStateBB) January 4, 2016
OF @Hunter_Renfroe in 2013
LHP @JLindgren19 in 2014
Is RHP @HudsonDakota next?#HailState pic.twitter.com/6fTb5J9QOS
New Year
— Mississippi State Baseball (@HailStateBB) January 2, 2016
New Team
48 Days... pic.twitter.com/OvMvQfk9R8
Is it 2016 yet?
— Mississippi State Baseball (@HailStateBB) December 30, 2015
51 Days...#HailState pic.twitter.com/vIcQvknTsV
No wonder @MSUCommandVelo is pumped for Opening Day! #HailState #54Days pic.twitter.com/OdBtOn63o4
— Mississippi State Baseball (@HailStateBB) December 27, 2015
Santa brought us a top-five recruiting class as an early gift! #HailState pic.twitter.com/poNupO2TCW
— Mississippi State Baseball (@HailStateBB) December 24, 2015
58 days until Opening Day!#HailState pic.twitter.com/iH0mfIAVuH
— Mississippi State Baseball (@HailStateBB) December 23, 2015
The 🌎 is about to find out about OF @Brent_Rooker19 #HailState pic.twitter.com/Vj32Rk7cll
— Mississippi State Baseball (@HailStateBB) December 17, 2015
Speed defines everything.#HailState pic.twitter.com/tOUpT8BShq
— Mississippi State Baseball (@HailStateBB) December 15, 2015
I could go on, but I’ll leave it at that. The hype is out there, but we’ve seen that train derail before. This is the time to make some noise, Cohen. Get it done.