Kevin McMullan enjoying life donning the M over S

When Brian O’Connor was considering taking the head coaching position at Mississippi State, there wasn’t even a thought in his mind that he would do it without Kevin McMullan.

The feeling was mutual for the Associate Head Coach as McMullan has spent most of his career coaching alongside O’Connor. After over 20 years at Virginia, the two loaded up with several other UVA staff members and moved to Starkville to start a new journey.

Since that time, McMullan and his fellow staff members have been like kids at the candy store inside Dudy Noble Field. There’s hardly been any sleep from the crew but they would have it no other way.

McMullan  made his introduction to the State media recently as the coach detailed what his last few months have been like in maroon and white.

Question: What have the last few months been like for you?

KM: “Get up in the morning, get ready to work and try to make the most of each day. Start with recruiting. When players got here on campus there was some player development stuff, but we tried to build the roster in the summer. Obviously, we want to improve our skill acquisition here in the fall and enjoy one day at a time and make the most of the day.”

Q: You’ve spent most of your career with coach O’Connor. Why has that been the right decision?

KM: “I think we had a lot of the same ideas. He’s a great man to work for. He’s loyal and allows you to do your work. He’s invested in us as people as well as our families. It’s just been a magic ride for me going on 22 years now.”

Q: What are some of your duties this year?

KM: “I’ll be in charge of our offense, hitters, working with infielders, overall player development and ideas for the outfield. Coach (Matt) Kirby does the catchers and outfielders, but we’re all intertwined in what we do.”

Q: Coach O’Connor had a meeting with all of the returning players when he arrived to get to know them. When did that process begin for you and Matt?

KM: “I was in those meetings when they got back from the Regional in Tallahassee. It was very enlightening to be in those meetings and how the players felt about their time here and the university and fanbase. It was an exciting 48 hours of no sleep and a lot of meetings, but it enlightened us to understand what passion people have for the program and what we’re getting into so to speak.”

Q: What’s been your impression of the talent you inherited?

KM: “I think baseball players is the first thing that come to my mind. Guys that are able to do multiple things offensively whether it be steal a base, move a runner or hit the ball out of the ballpark, so very diverse group. I’m excited to try and enhance their tool kit so to speak. Some had some hammers, some had some drivers. We’re going to hopefully get some more drivers and a couple of hammers in there. We’re trying to build their tool box for them and maintain what they have.”

Q: When you got here, what did you find what you expected or what did you find was a pleasant surprise?

KM: “The pleasant surprise was when coach shared with us that this was potentially going to happen, the first thing that you do is go online and look at everything and say, ‘ok, how can we sell this to student athletes?’ I was blown away on the video stuff just looking at the facilities, learning about the fanbase and the passion. We played Mississippi State two or three times at the last place we were at and it was always at home or Omaha so we didn’t really have a feel for this.

“The night we flew in here when coach decided to come to Mississippi State, I was blown away at it live compared to what I saw in the videos. It’s a special place. It felt like I was at the Disney World of college baseball. I was really blown away and excited about going out and recruiting guys that can come to a place like this and make a difference.”

Q: Since that time, you went straight to work on building the roster. How did y’all structure this thing out?

KM: “I think coach O’Connor, Matt Kirby, Mike Roberts and all of our personnel went to work right away. We had some guys on pitchers, some guys on position players and just tried to find the right fit. We made a ton of telephone calls and a bunch of guys on a visit. We tried to settle on the guys with the people that wanted us and vice versa. It’s always better when it’s mutual because when they get here they’re sold on this is the right spot for them. That’s going to be our approach moving forward.

“You get bits and pieces from different spaces. You get some high school kids and some transfer portal kids. I think the roster is as good as we know it can be. I don’t know what the rest of the league is, I just worry about what we’re doing here. If that’s good enough, we’re going to keep putting our foot on the gas and moving forward. Every day, that’s our goal to get a little bit better and challenge them to be the best version of themselves. We’ve done that since the minute school started and it’s been very well received. You can see guys making progress.”

Q: How do you balance the technical aspects of teaching the game and the competition aspect?

KM: “The competition is the test in if your preparation is good enough. The game is the test. We’ve done some live at bat stuff and felt pretty good last week that our guys were in a good place. The games are the test to say we’ve got to work on this and doing a good job on this. Just self-assess every time we have an opportunity to compete. We go back and redo our preparation to be able to make it more doable against any kind of competition.”

Q: What are you looking for in a hitter?

KM: “I’m looking for contact. Contact in any count and any situation. If the ball is in play, you’ve got a better shot.”