Justin Parker

[Awwhellnaw]

Well, here we are at the end of the season and it’s looking more and more likely we get into the tournament. Certainly wouldn’t have expected this a few weeks ago. Since Parker has taken over, we are 6-1. Moral seems much improved amongst the fans, players and so on. Winning cures all as they say. Cleaner play on the field and fewer boneheaded coaching decisions.

I can’t help but wonder what Parker would have to accomplish to retain his position. Henderson made it all the way to Omaha but was still shown the door. Granted, I believe Henderson inherited a much more talented team. At what stage would you be “ok” with Parker keeping his job for 2026? Make the sweet sixteen, make it to Omaha, has to win the whole damn thing? Personally, if he took this team to Omaha, I think he’s earned his shot.

 

[HotMop]

Make it to the Championship Game of the CWS.

 

[patdog]

My answer is your username. Awehellnaw.

 

[cadawg26]

I personally think he has to win the whole dang thing. We need to go get an elite head coach right now. That’s what this program needs.

 

[onewoof]

He's growing right before our eyes. Even while other guys are being interviewed to replace him

 

[Leeshouldveflanked]

Parker didn’t really upgrade pitching talent when he had the chance.

 

[TTKADawg]

Make it to the Championship Game of the CWS.

What if he wins a Regional, some how gets a Super in Starkville, advances to the CWS, but gets bounced in 2??? Hard to just tell him sorry man, we are going a different route. But you’re right, if he plays for the CWS Championship, no way in hell he doesn’t get the job! I mean, you’re talking about a young guy who is hungry and does that … hard to pass up.

 

[patdog]

What if he wins a Regional, some how gets a Super in Starkville, advances to the CWS, but gets bounced in 2??? Hard to just tell him sorry man, we are going a different route.

We did it with Henderson. It was the right decision then & it’s the right one now. It won’t come to that though.

 

[karlchilders.sixpack]

To me he has represented himself and MSU very well. I think he can handle the coaching job.
Now, how does he do with the recruiting game?

 

[TTKADawg]

We did it with Henderson. It was the right decision then & it’s the right one now. It won’t come to that though.

I completely agree with you on that, but Henderson vs Parker … Parker is younger, seems like a players coach, would obviously take this job/fan-base as serious as any rumored candidate. But your right, it’s definitely not the splash hire or proven head coach that’s being floated around.

 

[CaptainFalcon]

We did it with Henderson. It was the right decision then & it’s the right one now. It won’t come to that though.

Yeah people forget that Gary got us one win away from the national title series and we still told him “no thanks, gonna hire this dude from Indiana that our fans have never heard of”.

Don’t see it being Parker.

 

[RotorHead]

Don’t see it being Parker, and I agree the pitching hasn’t been what is expected. However, it is feasible that Parker had a direction/intent with his pitching staff which Lemonis didn’t want or allow him (Parker) to pursue. Now that Lemonis is out of the picture, it’s now Parker's show.

 

[johnson86-1]

What if he wins a Regional, some how gets a Super in Starkville, advances to the CWS, but gets bounced in 2??? Hard to just tell him sorry man, we are going a different route. But you’re right, if he plays for the CWS Championship, no way in hell he doesn’t get the job! I mean, you’re talking about a young guy who is hungry and does that … hard to pass up.

That’s a limited sample involving a team he didn’t build and a lot of luck involved. I’m not adamantly against him; he seems like a promising coach. But i don’t know how many candidates we’d have to strike out on before he was in the conversation. I would think it’d be a lot, including some not on the fans’ radar.

 

[patdog]

That’s a limited sample involving a team he didn’t build and a lot of luck involved. I’m not adamantly against him; he seems like a promising coach. But i don’t know how many candidates we’d have to strike out on before he was in the conversation. I would think it’d be a lot, including some not on the fans’ radar.

Yeah. What’s funny is 1 more hit for UM and no one would be clamoring for Parker to get the job. He’s a caretaker till the end of the season & then he’ll go with everyone else.

 

[She Mate Me]

Pretty simple for me. If we can hire a proven winning HC with a lot of experience, that's what we should do.

We had all season to get that done the year we hired Lemonis. If that kinda thing happens again, just give it to Parker if we finish this season strongly.

 

[8dog]

Programs get built over the course of years. No way a month of baseball tells you other than there were likely mental issues weighing this bunch down.

And we are playing average teams at home.

 

[onewoof]

And we are playing average teams at home.

And winning all but one game so far. Coaching is a young, healthy man's game. And a game that requires buying the best players. That's about all we know. Parker sure as hell is developing pitchers to handle pressure. I'll give him 100% credit for that.

 

[8dog]

And winning all but one game so far. Coaching is a young, healthy man's game. And a game that requires buying the best players. That's about all we know. Parker sure as hell is developing pitchers to handle pressure. I'll give him 100% credit for that.

Our bullpen has really struggled this year so I don’t know about “built to handle pressure”. We are certainly way better than 2 years ago but we are 12th in the conference in era right now

 

[Dawg1976]

A strong run in the CWS and I would just soon give to him over Thompson and Mingione. Highly unlikely we make it that far tho. As to who should get the job I really don’t know.

 

[QuaoarsKing]

Is "just promote an assistant from the coach you just fired" what elite programs do in any sport?

We were unquestionably an elite program from 2013 through 2021, with only Vanderbilt being possibly better than us. Since then, we haven't really been elite, but I think most of us aspire to get back there.

 

[anon1758050382]

We’re not hiring Parker. Henderson finished 3rd in the country. We’re not making a decision based on one tournament.

That said, if we end up hiring an assistant, I’ll ask why not Parker or Gautreau?

 

[maroonmadman]

We'll make offers to several notable P5 coaches and get shot down and at the last-minute hire Parker. Don't sweat it folks. It's the way it is.

 

[Howiefeltersnstch]

We'll make offers to several notable P5 coaches and get shot down and at the last-minute hire Parker. Don't sweat it folks. It's the way it is.

This probably a very accurate statement. Of course I would prefer O'Connor but if it cones down to hiring some assistant who won't say no Parker wouldn't be terrible. Big difference between hiring an old lifelong assistant and some young hungry guy. If he gets this team to the CWS I wouldn't be too disappointed if he got hired. He will give it hell I'm sure

 

[Pookieray]

If you do want to give him a shot you don't start him at the top of the pay scale and have a clause to terminate with 1 years base salary. Load the contract with incentives but keep the base salary $500k - $750k. Make regional $50k win regional $75K , win super $100k or somewhere along those lines.

Give him the opportunity if you feel he's earned it but don't cripple yourself if it doesn't work. Then it's up to him if he wants it or not. But if you keep him after 2 years you have to put him on long term contract.

 

[The Cooterpoot]

Well, here we are at the end of the season and it’s looking more and more likely we get into the tournament. Certainly wouldn’t have expected this a few weeks ago. Since Parker has taken over, we are 6-1. Moral seems much improved amongst the fans, players and so on. Winning cures all as they say. Cleaner play on the field and fewer boneheaded coaching decisions.

I can’t help but wonder what Parker would have to accomplish to retain his position. Henderson made it all the way to Omaha but was still shown the door. Granted, I believe Henderson inherited a much more talented team. At what stage would you be “ok” with Parker keeping his job for 2026? Make the sweet sixteen, make it to Omaha, has to win the whole damn thing? Personally, if he took this team to Omaha, I think he’s earned his shot.

If we win it all, sign him up, otherwise no point in discussing

 

[QuaoarsKing]

Also, we should announce our new coach long before Parker could get to a point where we might consider giving him the job anyway.

 

[8dog]

A strong run in the CWS and I would just soon give to him over Thompson and Mingione. Highly unlikely we make it that far tho. As to who should get the job I really don’t know.

We aren’t paying 6 million for Mingione regardless

 

[DAWGSANDSAINTS]

If we could go get another above average quality weekend starter, a very good middle reliever, a great 2 inning closer, a RF, and a 5 hole hitter that has just a bit of clutch hitting in him then I’d be ok with Parker being the new HC - that’s the recruitment part of it.
He needs to make a Regional, win the Regional, win the SR to advance to the CWS and I’d be really ok with Parker being our new HC

 

[DAWGSANDSAINTS]

We aren’t paying 6 million for Mingione regardless

If
Mingione even gets an interview then ZS doesn’t know what the 17 he’s doing.

 

[DAWGSANDSAINTS]

Also, we should announce our new coach long before Parker could get to a point where we might consider giving him the job anyway.

Probably not gonna happen unless some very high profile, on the radar coaches doesn’t make it to a SR or end up in the CWS

 

[msstatelp1]

Well, here we are at the end of the season and it’s looking more and more likely we get into the tournament. Certainly wouldn’t have expected this a few weeks ago. Since Parker has taken over, we are 6-1. Moral seems much improved amongst the fans, players and so on. Winning cures all as they say. Cleaner play on the field and fewer boneheaded coaching decisions.

I can’t help but wonder what Parker would have to accomplish to retain his position. Henderson made it all the way to Omaha but was still shown the door. Granted, I believe Henderson inherited a much more talented team. At what stage would you be “ok” with Parker keeping his job for 2026? Make the sweet sixteen, make it to Omaha, has to win the whole damn thing? Personally, if he took this team to Omaha, I think he’s earned his shot.

Get turned down by every HC we go after as well as Erlander.

 

[17itdawg]

My answer is your username. Awehellnaw.

 

[ETK99]

It's pretty obvious a lot of Rebs are unhappy today

 

[dog99walker]

We have good recruits coming. The discussion on this board is completely wacky. The hiring of Parker would go a long way toward keeping them, and he has connections in many parts of the country that could help us with transfers. Some of you are ‘burn it down and start over’. We need stability, not reinventing the wheel. My opinion is that with Lemonis gone, we’ll see a return to our identity as a program.

 

[OG Goat Holder]

We have good recruits coming. The discussion on this board is completely wacky. The hiring of Parker would go a long way toward keeping them, and he has connections in many parts of the country that could help us with transfers. Some of you are ‘burn it down and start over’. We need stability, not reinventing the wheel. My opinion is that with Lemonis gone, we’ll see a return to our identity as a program.

We certainly have a good freshman class of pitchers on campus. I’m not anti-Parker….at all.

 

[She Mate Me]

Also, we should announce our new coach long before Parker could get to a point where we might consider giving him the job anyway.

How do you do that when you're probably trying to hire a guy whose team is playing late into the postseason??

 

[MagnoliaHunter]

If you do want to give him a shot you don't start him at the top of the pay scale and have a clause to terminate with 1 years base salary. Load the contract with incentives but keep the base salary $500k - $750k. Make regional $50k win regional $75K , win super $100k or somewhere along those lines.

Give him the opportunity if you feel he's earned it but don't cripple yourself if it doesn't work. Then it's up to him if he wants it or not. But if you keep him after 2 years you have to put him on long term contract.

I agree, but incentives should be higher.

 

[The Cooterpoot]

We have good recruits coming. The discussion on this board is completely wacky. The hiring of Parker would go a long way toward keeping them, and he has connections in many parts of the country that could help us with transfers. Some of you are ‘burn it down and start over’. We need stability, not reinventing the wheel. My opinion is that with Lemonis gone, we’ll see a return to our identity as a program.

Our top recruit is going pro, decent chance we lose a couple kids to the draft. It's a pretty average class overall. Outside of about 4 kids, it's nothing special. I'd also use Arnett as an example of why you don't do this. If Parker is a great pitching coach, keep him with the next staff.

 

[Darryl Steight]

If Parker is a great pitching coach, keep him with the next staff.

This is the way.

Give him a bump in pay, add a title, "assistant head coach" or "next in line if this new guy doesn't work out" or something.

(I know it usually doesn't work out to keep a former interim as an assistant, as we've discussed before, just saying this is what I would be trying to do.)

 

[msudawg1200]

We have good recruits coming. The discussion on this board is completely wacky. The hiring of Parker would go a long way toward keeping them, and he has connections in many parts of the country that could help us with transfers. Some of you are ‘burn it down and start over’. We need stability, not reinventing the wheel. My opinion is that with Lemonis gone, we’ll see a return to our identity as a program.

You don't hire a coach based on one recruiting class, or a group of players. Any good coach worth a damn can recruit top notch talent here. See 2025 Texas A&M as why this is not a good reason to hire a coach.