Do I think Cohen was the right hire? No. Was it a better hire than Raffo would have been? Absolutely.
Look, anyone that has seen this team play knows that this is the worst State baseball team in 20 years, if not longer. They are horrendous. They have maybe three SEC caliber players, and none of those are on the mound. Routt may end up being one, but on most SEC teams he would be a midweek guy right now. Polk left a talentless group of players, and State is paying the price.
That being said, and to repeat another poster, Cohen has alot of maturing to do. I have had a few area scouts tell me that he is very difficult to work with. That is a problem, as these are guys that will give you pointers on players in your area that you may want to have at camps at younger(15-16 years old) ages. Matt Smith ended up at Ole Miss because an area scout put them on him. Ole Miss had never heard of him before then.
He also HAS to do a better job of dealing with the parents. Im not saying he caves to them, but he has to understand that when the parents turn on you as some have here, it is not good for the future of the program. True or not, those things get around. He can't afford, especially while rebuilding, to burn bridges. He did this in KY, and if you have seen the current team, you see it in the talent level. Outside of the two frontline SEC starters, they are as bad or worse, than State is.
Third, he has to understand that this isn't KY. It is Mississippi State, and regardless of what school you are a fan of, that carries weight. The fans care here. This isn't a 2500 seat HS field you play in. Fans will show up and support the program if you win. They expect to win. Again, it is Mississippi State. It is still today one of the Top 25 or so programs in the country. However, if it continues to slide, the young kids coming up aren't going to remember the State we knew growing up. They are going to remember what the program has been the last few years.
Fourth, he has to pick it up in recruiting. Numbers don't mean quality. He has yet to sign a pitcher that has SEC weekend starter written on him. He is going to have to go out of state to find those kids. Stratton is a solid player, Bright might help in two years, but other than that, the pitching signees leave alot to be desired. That being said, they are better than what is on campus now. He really needs to sell playing time, and the fact that he had arms drafted @ KY. If you compare the power arms drafted from Ole Miss in the last three years, and the arms drafted from State in the last few years, it is laughable. That is exactly how McDonnell sold kids on Ole Miss over State. We sign power arms and get kids drafted. They don't. The numbers supported this claim.
Last, quit complaining. Play with what you have, and do all you can to win with it. Nobody expected you to be any good, but Im sure no one expected your kids to quit on you, either. That is a reflection of the coach. Just as it was with Orgeron. The fact is it is Mississippi State Baseball. There were guys out there that would have jumped at the job, and State decided to stay in the family. Maybe it works out. Maybe it doesn't. But to not truly perform a national search may come back to haunt you.
