Brian O’Connor details importance of buy-in to Mississippi State baseball

Brian O’Connor was introduced as Mississippi State‘s next head coach on Thursday. O’Connor’s first order of business will be building his first staff, as well as roster for the 2026 college baseball season.

O’Connor enjoyed immense success during his two-decade-plus career at Virginia before making the move to Starkville. During his first meeting with the media, O’Connor hinted at the main reason for his constant success.

“It starts with the selection of the young men that you bring into the program and that they’re the right young men that you want to be part of your team, right? But obviously, the support’s here,” O’Connor said. “You know, this stadium, this fan base, right? Everything that goes on with that to attract and retain the right talent to give your program the chance to win championships.

“I’ll say this, the University of Virginia is totally committed to it, okay? And so is Mississippi State. But listen, there’s a lot of programs in the SEC. Everybody is committed to it. It’s not that at Mississippi State we have more than anybody else. We just need to have enough to retain and attract the right young men.”

O’Connor noted that Mississippi State athletic director Zac Selmon was a “big part” of bringing him to the program. Selmon would go on to sign him to a four-year, $2.9 million contract which makes him among the highest paid baseball coaches in the country. Mississippi State is putting their trust in O’Connor, and he doesn’t plan on letting them down.

During O’Connor’s introduction, the Bulldogs AD said that the previous regime was not consistently meeting the standards of the program. There was a need for change, and O’Connor appears to have fit the mold for the Bulldogs.

He compiled an 885-370-2 overall record at Virginia, including a 362-234-1 mark in ACC play. He was the conference’s Coach of the Year five times and helped the Cavaliers to two ACC titles. More of the same success is expected in Starkville.

“I felt like if I was going to leave this place that I loved and worked at for 22 years, it had to be the right partnership, first and foremost,” O’Connor continued “… I poured everything into that program in Charlottesville and, you know, the timing was lined up from the standpoint of where I was at in my career and where my family was at.

“Yes, there’s been a lot of schools over the years that have reached out about their jobs, but make no mistake about it, this was the right one for Brian O’Connor to take a different path in his career.”