Rhonda Keenum

AFDawg

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A player on the team was very good friends with one of the Cohen kids. This player didn’t play as much as she wanted. The Cohen’s said Vic refused to play her because of her lifestyle off the court.
Interesting. It doesn't exactly square with the other Schaefer rumor (if what the Cohens said was true). But human beings are if anything inconsistent.
 

paindonthurt

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A player on the team was very good friends with one of the Cohen kids. This player didn’t play as much as she wanted. The Cohen’s said Vic refused to play her because of her lifestyle off the court.
So let me get this straight.

Vics daughter was hooking up with the red head Aussie.

And Vic didn’t play a girl bc she was a lesbian?

Our fan base is so dumb.
 

Perd Hapley

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If you would be willing to name some of these people I think a lot of us would be more than happy to throw some vitriol their way. Right now the only person I know responsible for hiring Cohen as AD was the guy he worked for, Keenum.

I can’t name them….don’t know exact names. I just recall that there was allegedly a small but vocal faction of boosters that were in Cohen’s corner for the AD gig back in 2016. In the absence of any other obvious choices, he got the job.
 

Perd Hapley

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You’re the one on drugs my friend. 2011-2016. We went 94-87 in the SEC overall. We had two good years where we went 18-12 and 21-9. Our best team under Cohen never made it out of the Supers.

We were 16-14 in the SEC the year we were playing for the natty, you dubmass. Nobody gives a 17 about the overall SEC record. Some other team that just won the whole damn thing had a 17ing losing record in SEC play.
 

Perd Hapley

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We literally hired a national search firm to find Stricklin's replacement. You don't know what you're talking about. There were choices. We just made a lazy hire.

Where did I say there weren’t choices? I said lack of OBVIOUS choices. National search firm or not, the only other name that ever had any traction whatsoever was Scott Weatherbee, who was also on staff at the time and still hasn’t moved onto a bigger gig than EMU in the past 7 years. When you have no clear frontrunners in a search, just a handful of folks behind any one candidate can make all the difference.
 

Anon1664516582

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You’re the one on drugs my friend. 2011-2016. We went 94-87 in the SEC overall. We had two good years where we went 18-12 and 21-9. Our best team under Cohen never made it out of the Supers.
Correct. 2016 was his best team won the SEC . Hosted the regional then the male cheerleader from Jackson Prep invited Arizona to come straight to Starkville from their regional instead of flying back to arizona then having to fly back to Mississippi. What a stupid geek. Then we lost the 1st game 1-0 on Friday nite. Then when we we’re comfortably ahead on the 2nd game dumbass Cohen takes out several players for “defensive purposes “then Arizona rallies and hits that home run and Dudy Noble became silent. Dumbass Cohen took out the SEC TRIPLE CROWN WINNER and a couple of more … then we had no bats to hit.. and his defensive player in CF misplays a short pop up and the rally begins and all of a sudden game 2 is over and Arizona goes to Omaha with the weakest field in history. Arizona makes it to the Championship series and loses to ******* Coastal Carolina. That whole debacle is a testament to the all mighty John Cohen. **** him and the horse he road in on and add the gay male cheerleader from Jackson prep.
 

patdog

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We literally hired a national search firm to find Stricklin's replacement. You don't know what you're talking about. There were choices. We just made a lazy hire.
Funny how national search firms often find a way of recommending the person they know the client wants them to recommend. Sometimes these firms really do conduct a national search, but sometimes they're just hired to rubber stamp a decision that's already been made. The Cohen hire falls very much in the second category. You're right, we made a very lazy hire.
 

FlotownDawg

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I’m just going to put this out there. There are three reasons why some people dislike Cohen so much. He’s liberal, he’s Jewish and he has a trans kid.
 
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patdog

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I’m just going to put this out there. There are three reasons why some people dislike Cohen so much. He’s liberal, he’s Jewish and he has a trans kid.
I wouldn't even know about any of those if people like you didn't keep mentioning it (and I still don't care). He's arrogant, he ruined our women's basketball program with his hire, he set our football program back a lot with the Moorhead hire, and he hired Andy freaking Cannizaro.
 

Requiem For A Dawg

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So the team that played for the national title and had EIGHT future MLB players on it wasn’t his best team? Cool cool.
2016 was definitely Cohen’s most talented team. Winning the regular season SEC title is one helluva accomplishment. There are 10 players on that roster that have been called up to the MLB or currently playing in the MLB with several others in the minors.
 

Perd Hapley

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2016 was definitely Cohen’s most talented team. Winning the regular season SEC title is one helluva accomplishment. There are 10 players on that roster that have been called up to the MLB or currently playing in the MLB with several others in the minors.

10? I counted 7 - Hudson, Rooker, Robson, Small, Lowe, Kruger, and Pilkington. Who were the other 3?

Obviously it was a very good team. And the SEC title is a huge accomplishment….not trying to discount that. But, SEC record / SEC titles are a very distant 4th place in importance for coaching at MSU behind national titles, Omaha appearances, and Super Regional appearances. And there is a luck component there, too. The 2014 team won 2 more SEC games than 2013, but the SEC East draw was far easier, and that 2014 team didn’t even host largely because of it due to lower RPI. 2016 team therefore wasn’t as good as 2013….just wasn’t.
 
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MagnoliaHunter

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Cohen’s biggest strength is he’s very smart. His biggest weakness is he always has to prove he’s the smartest guy in the room. And sometimes he does some really stupid things trying to prove that.
As someone who had a couple of classes with him, no he's not very smart, in fact he's very much on the other end of the spectrum.
 

Perd Hapley

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As someone who had a couple of classes with him, no he's not very smart, in fact he's very much on the other end of the spectrum.

Well, he somehow made himself a millionaire many times over by becoming proficient at coaching a kid’s game….even though the coaching was in a low profile sport that loses money everywhere it is played. And then, he parlayed that success into making more millions by becoming an athletic director at two of the Top 30-35 richest athletic departments in the country.

I wish I could learn how to be that stupid.
 
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Theconnormead

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And he built it even bigger by the hire he made after he left….with the guy that brought us the natty. Made some other good hires and bad ones. Wasn’t perfect of course, but still a Bulldog who advanced MSU athletics much further than many other coaches and administrators in our past.
Will not disagree, but he also had more money to work with than any other AD in the past.
 

johnson86-1

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I’m just going to put this out there. There are three reasons why some people dislike Cohen so much. He’s liberal, he’s Jewish and he has a trans kid.
Is this really a thing in Mississippi? I never know if people making these claims are just *** hats that like to say things like this because it makes them feel superior or if they are actually **** people that surround themselves with **** people and think their ****** social circle is representative of the state.

I know people I'm around for work and socially are not representative of the state, but I don't think I've ever heard somebody from Mississippi express any animosity towards Jewish people. Hell, I bet most Mississippians don't know more than one Jewish family. It probably doesn't occur to most of them that they are a group to have prejudice against.
 

Perd Hapley

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Is this really a thing in Mississippi? I never know if people making these claims are just *** hats that like to say things like this because it makes them feel superior or if they are actually **** people that surround themselves with **** people and think their ****** social circle is representative of the state.

I know people I'm around for work and socially are not representative of the state, but I don't think I've ever heard somebody from Mississippi express any animosity towards Jewish people. Hell, I bet most Mississippians don't know more than one Jewish family. It probably doesn't occur to most of them that they are a group to have prejudice against.

Probably has more to do with the 1st and 3rd thing than the 2nd thing.
 
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OG Goat Holder

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Eventually everyone will realize, nobody likes John Cohen. Polk was right all those years ago.
You're right, but he served his purpose when he was here. He shook up the apple cart in ways in which we needed it, in baseball and then again in the AD after Loaferz left. Folks had gotten stale and lazy in both areas.

"Change agent" and "ax man." They'll probably pay him (Cohen) well. And when he gets dumped by Yellawood, he'll cry all the way to the bank.

ETA: Bottom line: Likely a "win-win" for all involved
Have to agree with Captain Assfungus here. I personally thought he was a better coach than AD but can see his talents for both. But more than that, he's the guy that enacts obvious change and runs off the clowns. I certainly understand Cohen's personality.

I’m pretty sure he has the worst cumulative SEC record of all time in Ms state baseball history as a head coach. Maybe worse overall too. He was above average at times but never special.
You and @patdog are dumb as hell with this logic. Cohen had to clean up Polks mess, and that taints his record. Ya'll know this. If you don't, then you are just stupid, no other to say it. Polks saddled us with a bunch of pitchers gassing 75 that couldn't start for Holmes Junior. If you don't have competent starting pitching in the SEC, you have zero chance.

He was a very good coach. But like anything else, after a while, a guy with that personality starts rubbing folks the wrong way. So he moved to AD and let someone else handle baseball, and ULTIMATELY it worked for everyone involved. You could argue about his performance at AD until you're blue in the face, but I bet Zac Selmon is thankful for some of the hard things Cohen did, even if it was certainly time for Cohen to move on.
 
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Perd Hapley

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He was a very good coach. But like anything else, after a while, a guy with that personality starts rubbing folks the wrong way.

I agree with everything you said except the above. Don’t think he really rubbed anyone important the wrong way when he was coaching. He just seems like the type of guy that needs new challenges every 5-7 years in his career, and his resume reflects that.

For example, he was a head coach at Northwestern State for 4 years, had great success, and left to be an assistant at Florida. That’s a lateral move at best, and likely a step down.

Example #2 - He could have kept coaching baseball at MSU for as long as he wanted, but in the end just got burned out with it. So again, he went from being head coach at a Top 10 baseball program that was also his alma mater, and shifted to an administrative position. Again, lateral move at best, and probably a step down for someone looking at it from the outside.

I think its hard for us as fans to understand that personality type. We all think if we were in a position to coach or AD at MSU that we’d be happier than pigs in sh*t and never want to leave. But the real world isn’t so simple. People get burned out even with the things they love and cherish quite often.
 

OG Goat Holder

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I agree with everything you said except the above. Don’t think he really rubbed anyone important the wrong way when he was coaching. He just seems like the type of guy that needs new challenges every 5-7 years in his career, and his resume reflects that.

For example, he was a head coach at Northwestern State for 4 years, had great success, and left to be an assistant at Florida. That’s a lateral move at best, and likely a step down.

Example #2 - He could have kept coaching baseball at MSU for as long as he wanted, but in the end just got burned out with it. So again, he went from being head coach at a Top 10 baseball program that was also his alma mater, and shifted to an administrative position. Again, lateral move at best, and probably a step down for someone looking at it from the outside.

I think its hard for us as fans to understand that personality type. We all think if we were in a position to coach or AD at MSU that we’d be happier than pigs in sh*t and never want to leave. But the real world isn’t so simple. People get burned out even with the things they love and cherish quite often.
I can see this, and probably shows that he was more in his 'sweet spot' as a coach rather than an administrator. And I get his personality, because I'm the same! I'm more of an administrator than coach, though. It's not really about being an arsehole, as most people think. More about being introverted and being very direct.

I certainly was very optimistic about the baseball program in the fall of 2016, before I found out he was leaving. We were definitely in good hands and I do think Cohen could have won a title had he stayed hungry - but like you said, I think he needed a new challenge.
 

beachbumdawg

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I wouldn't even know about any of those if people like you didn't keep mentioning it (and I still don't care). He's arrogant, he ruined our women's basketball program with his hire
Agreed on Vic replacement- disaster
he set our football program back a lot with the Moorhead hire
On paper good hire - too passive of a personality
and he hired Andy freaking Cannizaro.
Cannizzaro was a damn good hire at the time dude knows hitting and can flat out recruit - went to super in yr one and helped make Rooker a triple crown winner - his problem was the fast success lead him down the path of recruiting women too
 
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patdog

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Cannizzaro was a damn good hire at the time dude knows hitting and can flat out recruit - went to super in yr one and helped make Rooker a triple crown winner - his problem was the fast success lead him down the path of recruiting women too
Cannizaro's character flaws didn't just suddenly surface after he'd been at MSU for a year. They were there all along and should have been discovered in the vetting process (really baseball is a small world, so it's very likely Cohen already knew about it from the beginning. In any case, you don't hire a baseball coach in December. Cohen should have either pulled double duty for a semester or appointed Henderson as interim and conducted a proper coaching search in June.
 
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paindonthurt

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I’m just going to put this out there. There are three reasons why some people dislike Cohen so much. He’s liberal, he’s Jewish and he has a trans kid.
I couldN'T care less that he was jewish.
I probably could care a little less that he has a trans kid but not much.
I do care some that he was liberal b/c he let it affect his job in SOME instances.

Having stated all 3 of the above, i'm glad we hired Cohen as a baseball coach. I didn't love or hate the AD hire but I think he did ok. I was also glad to see him move on.
 

paindonthurt

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Cannizaro's character flaws didn't just suddenly surface after he'd been at MSU for a year. They were there all along and should have been discovered in the vetting process (really baseball is a small world, so it's very likely Cohen already knew about it from the beginning. In any case, you don't hire a baseball coach in December. Cohen should have either pulled double duty for a semester or appointed Henderson as interim and conducted a proper coaching search in June.
Hold on. Is there anything on record where Canni had messed up prior to MSU?

Plenty on record at MSU after a year and after leaving MSU, but I've yet to see anything on record prior to him coming to MSU.

Was LSU ok with him doing those things as long as he wasn't the head coach?
 

Perd Hapley

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Cannizaro's character flaws didn't just suddenly surface after he'd been at MSU for a year. They were there all along and should have been discovered in the vetting process (really baseball is a small world, so it's very likely Cohen already knew about it from the beginning.

I think its more likely that since Cannizarro wasn’t in the coaching world for very long before coming to MSU, those flaws didn’t have a chance to surface so quickly. People forget he was only in coaching for 2 years total before getting the MSU job. Of course, it could be argued that he shouldn’t have been the guy for that reason alone.

In any case, you don't hire a baseball coach in December. Cohen should have either pulled double duty for a semester or appointed Henderson as interim and conducted a proper coaching search in June.

Totally agree. But, the one silver lining with both Cannizarro and Moorhead is that we cut bait at the right time to prevent either program from running off course. That was one strength of Cohen’s.
 

patdog

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Totally agree. But, the one silver lining with both Cannizarro and Moorhead is that we cut bait at the right time to prevent either program from running off course. That was one strength of Cohen’s.
Agree with this.
 

OG Goat Holder

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Cannizaro's character flaws didn't just suddenly surface after he'd been at MSU for a year. They were there all along and should have been discovered in the vetting process (really baseball is a small world, so it's very likely Cohen already knew about it from the beginning. In any case, you don't hire a baseball coach in December. Cohen should have either pulled double duty for a semester or appointed Henderson as interim and conducted a proper coaching search in June.
Facts:

1) Cannizaro is hired and takes us to a Super Regional in 2017, in the face of overwhelming pitching injuries, and produced an SEC Triple Crown winner.
2) After Cannizaro was fired, Henderson took us to Omaha in 2018.
3) Lemonis hired, and proceeds to go to Omaha twice, winning a national title, and the 2020 team was pretty dang good too before getting cancelled.

Tell me again how anything that happened to the baseball program from 2016 until 2022 was a bad thing? Exactly what would we need to do over again? I seem to recall Cannizaro signing one TANNER ALLEN.

pat.....man it's time to stop posting such strong opinions on MSU baseball. You were wrong on Cohen in 2009/2010, and you're still wrong now. Truth be told his name ought to be on the stadium along with Polk's.

He is ultimately the man responsible for the best era of baseball in our history. That's not debatable.
 
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