I believe that this is the current Top 5 for the job in no particular order:
1. Cliff Godwin
2. Monte Lee
3. Chris Pollard
4. Dan McDonnell
5. Tom Walter
From sources I've spoken to, I do believe that Ray wants to hire a sitting head coach. I also believe that he doesn't want to wait on Elander and Tennessee to finish their season before he could potentially take over. UT hosts Evansville in a Super Regional this weekend. They are by far the heaviest favorite to advance to the CWS. There is a strong chance that Elander is still coaching in two weeks. As I wrote on the initial hotboard, I never thought Landon Powell was a legitimate candidate for the head coaching position. Former assistant Skylar Meade's name never gained any traction.
Tom Walter is the oldest coach on this list and the most experienced. He's been a college head coach for 27 seasons. He coached 8 seasons at George Washington and won 60% of his games and 64% of his conference games. GW only made the tournament one time during Walter's tenure. His next stop was at New Orleans. He won 51% of his games and only 49% of his conference games. He did take NO to the NCAA Tournament twice in 5 years. Walter took the Wake Forest job in 2010 and the administration and fan base was patient. He didn't make the NCAA Tournament in his first 6 seasons. Wake has made five of the last eight tournament fields. They underachieved this season getting knocked out in the Greenville Regional after entering the season #1 in the country. In 15 seasons, Wake has won 56% of their games but has a losing record in the ACC. (Mostly due to the first six seasons). Wake won the ACC once and has one Omaha appearances. Walter is at the forefront of baseball technology. He set up Wake's "pitching lab" which has been duplicated throughout the country. One interesting note: He's 6-0 against Eric Bakich at Clemson.
Not going to go through the other four- don't read anything into that- it's just there has been more coverage of those guys.
1. Cliff Godwin
2. Monte Lee
3. Chris Pollard
4. Dan McDonnell
5. Tom Walter
From sources I've spoken to, I do believe that Ray wants to hire a sitting head coach. I also believe that he doesn't want to wait on Elander and Tennessee to finish their season before he could potentially take over. UT hosts Evansville in a Super Regional this weekend. They are by far the heaviest favorite to advance to the CWS. There is a strong chance that Elander is still coaching in two weeks. As I wrote on the initial hotboard, I never thought Landon Powell was a legitimate candidate for the head coaching position. Former assistant Skylar Meade's name never gained any traction.
Tom Walter is the oldest coach on this list and the most experienced. He's been a college head coach for 27 seasons. He coached 8 seasons at George Washington and won 60% of his games and 64% of his conference games. GW only made the tournament one time during Walter's tenure. His next stop was at New Orleans. He won 51% of his games and only 49% of his conference games. He did take NO to the NCAA Tournament twice in 5 years. Walter took the Wake Forest job in 2010 and the administration and fan base was patient. He didn't make the NCAA Tournament in his first 6 seasons. Wake has made five of the last eight tournament fields. They underachieved this season getting knocked out in the Greenville Regional after entering the season #1 in the country. In 15 seasons, Wake has won 56% of their games but has a losing record in the ACC. (Mostly due to the first six seasons). Wake won the ACC once and has one Omaha appearances. Walter is at the forefront of baseball technology. He set up Wake's "pitching lab" which has been duplicated throughout the country. One interesting note: He's 6-0 against Eric Bakich at Clemson.
Not going to go through the other four- don't read anything into that- it's just there has been more coverage of those guys.
