NCAA Tournament Coaches Reveal Their Favorite Bands Or Musicians
Image credit: Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder (Photo by Jim Bennett/Getty Images)
Music is central to the baseball experience. Whether it’s an organist or a DJ, someone is waiting to fill the dead air in between innings or at bats. Music plays during batting practice, on long bus rides, in the weight room.
So, on the eve of regionals–and with a hearty hat tip to Matt Norlander and CBS Sports, who completed this project for men’s basketball earlier this spring, I asked all 64 coaches whose teams qualified for the NCAA Tournament who is their favorite band or musician.
There was a real enthusiasm to the responses. Oklahoma State’s Josh Holliday ran off half a dozen bands, noting he was listening to Phil Collins while responding.
“I love music!” he wrote.
That about summed up the exercise. East Carolina’s Cliff Godwin initially gave me a list of 13 artists ranging from Tupac to Miley Cyrus (the older stuff) to George Strait before cutting it down to a top three of Eminem, Kenny Chesney and Kelsea Ballerini. NC State’s Elliott Avent also sent along a ranked list of six choices. Clemson’s Erik Bakich tried to give me a five-way tie before settling on Billy Currington (He also listed Morgan Wallen, Jon Pardi, Blake Shelton and Dierks Bentley. Noticeably absent is Kenny Chesney, whose music sparked Michigan’s College World Series runner-up run in 2019.).
The most popular band was Pearl Jam, which was named by seven coaches. That tracks well with the average age of a college baseball coach and the height of Pearl Jam’s popularity.
The next most popular artist was George Strait, who was named by four coaches. That tally doesn’t include Texas’ David Pierce, who picked the Ace In the Hole Band, for which Strait was the lead singer before setting off on his solo career.
“I was country before country was cool,” Virginia’s Brian O’Connor said of his George Strait pick.
For some, the answers were personal. UC Santa Barbara’s Andrew Checketts selected UCSB alumnus Jack Johnson, who Checketts has seen perform twice on campus. Texas A&M’s Jim Schlossnagle (David Nail) and Oregon State’s Mitch Canham (Pain) both selected artists which whom they are friends. Pain was a part of the “O-State Ballaz 2020” song, a callback to Canham’s 2007 song when he was the Beavers catcher.
Kansas State’s Pete Hughes had the most personal answer of all, as he went with Gracie Hughes, his daughter. She’s a student at Kansas and plays folk rock. If you’re in Lawrence this weekend, you can see her at Uplift Coffee on Saturday.
Almost no matter what kind of music you like, there’s a good bet one of the coaches the tournament appreciates it as well. Two coaches included Taylor Swift in their long lists, though neither made the cutdown versions I eventually coaxed out of them. But in addition to the plethora of country and classic rock, there’s pop and rap and even EDM.
So, flip through the list and sample some tracks. Think of it as a soundtrack to the NCAA Tournament.
| TEAM | HEAD COACH | BAND/ARTIST |
|---|---|---|
| Alabama | Rob Vaughn | Sean McConnell |
| Arizona | Chip Hale | Journey |
| Arkansas | Dave Van Horn | Zach Williams |
| Army | Chris Tracz | George Strait |
| Bryant | Ryan Klosterman | Chris Stapleton |
| Clemson | Erik Bakich | Billy Currington |
| Coastal Carolina | Gary Gilmore | Brooks & Dunn |
| Dallas Baptist | Dan Heefner | Shane & Shane |
| Duke | Chris Pollard | Tyler Childers |
| East Carolina | Cliff Godwin | Eminem/Kenny Chesney/Kelsea Ballerini |
| Evansville | Wes Carroll | Dave Matthews Band |
| Florida | Kevin O’Sullivan | Eric Church |
| Florida State | Link Jarrett | Matchbox Twenty/Luke Combs |
| Fresno State | Ryan Overland | Pearl Jam |
| Georgia | Wes Johnson | Matthew West |
| Georgia Tech | Danny Hall | Luke Bryan |
| Grambling State | Davin Pierre | Jagged Edged/Maverick City |
| Grand Canyon | Greg Wallis | Adam Duritz/Counting Crows |
| High Point | Joey Hammond | New Edition |
| Illinois | Dan Hartleb | Dierks Bentley/Chris Stapleton/Kid Rock |
| Indiana | Jeff Mercer | George Strait |
| Indiana State | Mitch Hannahs | Chris Stapleton |
| James Madison | Marlin Ikenberry | Dave Matthews Band |
| Kansas State | Pete Hughes | Gracie Hughes/Eddie Vedder |
| Kentucky | Nick Mingione | Casting Crowns |
| Long Island | Dan Pirillo | Pearl Jam |
| Louisiana | Matt Deggs | Lauren Daigle/Morgan Wallen/Def Leppard |
| Louisiana Tech | Lane Burroughs | The Eagles |
| LSU | Jay Johnson | Jason Aldean |
| Mississippi State | Chris Lemonis | AC/DC |
| NC State | Elliott Avent | Toby Keith/Statler Brothers |
| Nebraska | Will Bolt | Stoney Larue |
| Niagara | Rob McCoy | Zach Bryan |
| Nicholls State | Mike Silva | Bob Seger |
| North Carolina | Scott Forbes | George Strait |
| Northern Kentucky | Dizzy Peyton | Sturgill Simpson |
| Oklahoma | Skip Johnson | Stevie Nicks |
| Oklahoma State | Josh Holliday | Hall & Oates |
| Oral Roberts | Ryan Folmar | Alabama |
| Oregon | Mark Wasikowski | Alan Jackson |
| Oregon State | Mitch Canham | Pain |
| Penn | John Yurkow | Pearl Jam |
| San Diego | Brock Ungricht | Chris Stapleton |
| Stetson | Steve Trimper | Pearl Jam/Audioslave |
| South Carolina | Mark Kingston | Billy Joel |
| Southeast Missouri | Andy Sawyers | Metallica |
| Southern Miss | Christian Ostrander | Pearl Jam/Metallica/Grateful Dead |
| St. John’s | Mike Hampton | Michael Jackson |
| Tennessee | Tony Vitello | Young Dolph |
| Texas | David Pierce | Ace In The Hole Band |
| Texas A&M | Jim Schlossnagle | David Nail |
| Tulane | Jay Uhlman | Pearl Jam |
| UC Irvine | Ben Orloff | Zac Brown Band |
| UC Santa Barbara | Andrew Checketts | Jack Johnson |
| UCF | Rich Wallace | Pearl Jam |
| UConn | Jim Penders | Frank Sinatra |
| UNC Wilington | Randy Hood | Counting Crows/Jayson Arendt |
| Vanderbilt | Tim Corbin | Five For Fighting |
| VCU | Bradley LeCroy | John Cougar Mellencamp |
| Virginia | Brian O’Connor | George Strait |
| Wake Forest | Tom Walter | Brett Young |
| West Virginia | Randy Mazey | Sugarland |
| Western Michigan | Billy Gernon | REO Speedwagon |
| Wofford | JJ Edwards | DJ Tiesto |
