Arizona Baseball Coaching Search, Job Profile And Candidates

Jay Johnson on Friday was announced as the new coach at Louisiana State, creating an opening at Arizona, which Johnson just led to its 18th College World Series appearance this season. 

Johnson was in Tucson for six seasons, leading the Wildcats to a 208-114 record overall and an 82-67 mark in Pac-12 play. A 21-9 Pac-12 record this season led to Arizona’s first outright conference title since 1992, and in addition to the 2021 Omaha trip, he also led Arizona to a runner-up finish in 2016. 

The standard in Tucson under Johnson has inarguably remained high, and as long as the roster doesn’t hit the transfer portal en masse, Johnson and his staff have recruited well enough of late that this group could make a return trip to Omaha as quickly as next season. 

There were some ups and downs along the way, however. The Wildcats were on the wrong side of the bubble and missed the postseason in 2018 and 2019, but that’s more or less on par with what Arizona has been historically. You have to go back to the 1960s to find a time when the Wildcats made the postseason more than three seasons in a row.  

On balance, the history of success outpaces the quality of the job as it stands right now, but quality candidates will emerge for an opening like this one, where there are plenty of natural advantages at play and a national title will always be within the realm of possibility. 

Previous Head Coach 

Jay Johnson: 208-114, six seasons

Job Description

Looking at the big picture, somewhat quietly, the Wildcats take a backseat to very few in terms of historical success. Their 18 CWS appearances are tied for seventh all-time and their four national titles, the most recent of which came in 2012, are good for a tie for fifth. That level of success plays a big part in making Arizona one of the best jobs on the West Coast, but on top of that, it has a quality stadium situation with Hi Corbett Field, the university recruits itself in a lot of ways and Arizona is a good state to be in for prep baseball talent, even if much of that talent is concentrated north in the Phoenix metro area. 

Financial Commitment Should be There

In terms of compensation, Johnson was among the highest-paid coaches in the Pac-12, and the administration stepped up to bring in pitching coach Nate Yeskie from Oregon State, one of the best in the business in that role. Arizona won’t pay at the top of the scale established by high-profile openings in the SEC, but it has the resources to compete with any school out west. 

Is There an Arizona Coaching Pipeline?

Whether made up of former or current assistant coaches in the program, former players in the program who have gone into coaching or coaches who don’t necessarily have ties to the school but do have ties to the region, there are certain high-profile openings that come with an obvious list of candidates. Arizona is not really one of those openings. Perhaps because the last two head coaches, Johnson and Andy Lopez, came from outside the Arizona family, if you will, there isn’t that same kind of pipeline, especially now that Yeskie is heading to join Jim Schlossnagle on the staff at Texas A&M. That doesn’t mean that Arizona won’t find a good fit, but it might mean that its administration casts a wide net to involve coaches with varied backgrounds. 

Roster Breakdown

First off, it should be said that Arizona is in a tough spot given the timing of this move. With the deadline to enter the transfer portal coming up on July 1, it won’t have a new head coach in place in time to keep current players out of the portal, and already, at least a dozen Arizona players have placed their names in the portal, including freshman DH Jacob Berry. That said, it wouldn’t take too many of those players sticking around for the next coach to have a Pac-12 title contender on his hands, even with the likely departures of key players like center fielder Donta Williams, first baseman Branden Boissiere, right fielder Ryan Holgate and righthander Chase Silseth. Among the players that could return are freshman phenoms in Berry and catcher Daniel Susac, plus righthanders Chandler Murphy, Dawson Netz and T.J. Nichols, who all have good enough stuff to give Arizona one of the most talented pitching staffs on the West Coast. Second baseman Kobe Kato and shortstop Nik McClaughry would also give the Wildcats an experienced middle infield. Suffice it to say the situation is set up well should the next coach keep it together. 

The Candidates

For the third time in seven months, Arizona athletic director Dave Heeke has to make a significant head coaching hire. The previous two—Jedd Fisch for football and Tommy Lloyd for men’s basketball—probably won’t be that instructive for baseball. Fisch spent the bulk of his career in the NFL with a couple college stints along the way before coming to Arizona after a season as the New England Patriots quarterbacks coach. Lloyd had spent his entire 20-year coaching career as an assistant coach at Gonzaga, where he was likely in line to be the next head coach if he stayed. With such varied backgrounds, finding commonalities that can be applied to the baseball hire isn’t easy.

Baseball is a different animal anyway and Heeke is plugged into the sport, thanks to both his time on the Division I Baseball Committee and his son, Zach, who just finished his career at Central Michigan. Between Heeke’s background and Arziona being one of the premier programs in the Pac-12, expect a strong candidate pool.

This is a big Pac-12 job, so UC Santa Barbara’s Andrew Checketts is going to generate buzz. He’s done an outstanding job with the Gauchos, who hosted a regional for the first time in 2015, reached the College World Series for the first time the next season, won in 2019 their first Big West title since 1986 and this season made another regionals trip. Checketts, 45, was in the mix for the Pac-12 jobs that opened in 2019 but ultimately stayed at UCSB. Hiring him away won’t be easy, but he certainly has the resume for the job. Heeke got a good look at Checketts and the Gauchos earlier this month, when they lost to Arizona in the Tucson Regional final.

Oregon’s Mark Wasikowski spent a decade as an assistant coach at Arizona. He’s since led quick turnarounds at both Purdue and Oregon, this season leading the Ducks to a second-place finish in the Pac-12. His salary this season ranked well behind Johnson’s, perhaps creating an opening for the Wildcats.

Long Beach State’s Eric Valenzuela overlapped with Johnson on staff at San Diego for four seasons and has gone on to have plenty of success of his own. Valenzuela, 42, led Saint Mary’s in 2016 to its first ever NCAA Tournament appearance and is 38-20 in two seasons at Long Beach.

Washington State’s Brian Green is in the midst of a big rebuilding job after getting hired two years ago but went a solid 26-23 this year in his first full season. He in 2018 led New Mexico State to the NCAA Tournament, coached Nick Gonzales in Las Cruces and previously was an assistant coach at Kentucky and UCLA. He’s high-energy and is a well-regarded hitting coach, two traits that could play well in Tucson.

The last time Arizona needed a baseball coach, it went to Nevada. Could history repeat itself seven years later? T.J. Bruce, 39, just led the Wolf Pack to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2000 and has won two Mountain West titles in three seasons. He also spent four years as UCLA’s recruiting coordinator and was part of the 2013 national championship team before taking over at Nevada. 

Andy Stankiewicz has built an impressive program over the last decade at Grand Canyon. He guided the Antelopes from Division II to Division I and this season led them to the NCAA Tournament for the first time. Stankiewicz, 56, knows the lay of the land and is a proven head coach.

UC Irvine’s Ben Orloff makes for an interesting candidate. He’s spent the last three seasons as the head coach of his alma mater and this year led the Anteaters to their second ever Big West title and a regional final. Orloff, 34, is no doubt a rising star, but would he be tempted to leave Irvine so soon?

Chip Hale starred at Arizona as a player and was a part of the 1986 national championship team. After his playing career ended, he’s gone on to be a successful big league coach and was the D-backs manager from 2015-16. Hale, 56, is currently the Tigers third-base coach. He has no college coaching experience, but makes for an intriguing candidate. 

Central Michigan’s Jordan Bischel is also an intriguing candidate. He’s led the Chippewas to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances and Mid-American Conference titles since taking over the program three years ago. He was previously a head coach at the NAIA and Division II levels and has won everywhere he’s gone. Heeke is certainly familiar with Bischel, 39, thanks to his son playing for him for the last three years. But it would be a big call to hire a coach from the MAC with no West Coast ties for a job like Arizona.