Baseball coaching search already underway
6/1/2011 3:05:00 PM | Baseball
HUNTSVILLE – With the Sam Houston State baseball season completed, Bearkat Director of Athletics Bobby Williams is moving forward with the process of hiring a new head coach.
Mark Johnson announced his retirement at the beginning of the 2011 season, stating it would be the last of his 26-year head coaching career. Because Johnson made the announcement at the start of the year, Williams said the university is much farther along in the process than if Johnson had waited until the season was complete.
“We have been doing our research,” Williams said. “Out of respect for our team completing the season and for coach Johnson we did not interview anyone during that time. Now that the season is over we have started the process of moving forward. We are ahead of the game at this point.”
Williams said he is aware this is a time sensitive process, but at the same time wants to make sure it is done correctly.
“We are making sure we are following all of the university's hiring policies,” Williams said. “We are moving this as quickly as we can, because we acknowledge the recruiting process is critical. At the same time, I want to make sure we get the right person for the job.”
The Bearkats finished this past year 35-24 and fifth place in the Southland Conference. The Kats' season came to an end on Friday in a 13-2 loss to Texas State, eliminating them from the postseason tournament.
Under Johnson, the Kats broke or tied 29 team and individual records. They produced three All-Americans, the National Closer of the Year (Luke Prihoda, 2007) and the national total hits leader (Braeden Riley, 2009).
In the last five years, the Kats finished fourth place in the Southland twice, fifth, seventh and ninth. It was in the tournament that Johnson made the biggest impact, leading the Kats to three consecutive Southland Tournament titles, and rolling up an SLC best 13-game tournament winning streak.
