Mississippi State hires Virginia's Brian O'Connor as head baseball coach

Mississippi State is set to hire Virginia’s Brian O’Connor as its next head baseball coach, On3’s Pete Nakos has learned. He just completed his 21st season in Charlottesville.

O’Connor’s name came up in connection with the Texas A&M opening last year, but he reportedly never spoke with the Aggies and ultimately remained at UVA. During his time with the Cavaliers, he led the program to a College World Series title in 2015 and made seven total trips to Omaha. Now, he’ll head to Mississippi State, where he’ll replace Chris Lemonis.

All told, O’Connor had 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.

UVA was O’Connor’s first head coaching opportunity after he served as an assistant at Notre Dame from 1995-2003. That came after he was the pitching coach at his alma mater, Creighton, from 1993-95 after a brief stint in the Philadelphia Phillies’ minor league system.

Brian O’Connor will now serve as the full-time replacement for Chris Lemonis, who was fired after a 7-14 start to SEC play. Mississippi State athletics director Zac Selmon announced the decision following a losing weekend at Auburn, and he informed the Bulldogs in a team meeting.

“A change in leadership is what’s best for the future of Mississippi State Baseball,” Selmon said in a statement. “We have not consistently met the standard of success that our university, fans and student-athletes expect and deserve. I want to thank Coach Lemonis for his work and the time he gave to our program, including a national championship in 2021. We appreciate his efforts and wish him and his family all the best moving forward.

“In a team meeting moments ago, I expressed to our student-athletes the confidence we have in their abilities and the potential they have for the remainder of the season. I encouraged them to compete with pride, resilience, and intensity. With the hard work, preparation, and talent already within this group, we are committed to putting them in the best position to finish the season competing at the highest level.”

Justin Parker took over as the interim head coach and helped stabilize things as Mississippi State won nine of its next 10 games – including eight in SEC play to finish 15-15 in league action. After falling to Texas A&M in the SEC Tournament, Mississippi State still made it to the NCAA Tournament with a 34-21 overall record. The Bulldogs headed to the Tallahassee Regional.