Below is a video clip from Friday's press conference introducing new Auburn baseball coach John Pawlowski...

 

Auburn looks to have landed a winner in Pawlowski

By Jay Coulter
jccoulter@gmail.com

After a longer than expected search for a new baseball coach, Auburn hired College of Charleston coach John Pawlowski on Friday afternoon. The move looks to be solid on all fronts.

Pawlowski has the pedigree and experience to win at Auburn. Give athletic director Jay Jacobs credit; he appears to have landed a winner. Pawlowski has one of the best resumes in college baseball.

The former Clemson pitcher has led Charleston to the Southern Conference title in four of the last five seasons. He was named conference coach of the year three times - 2004, 2005 and 2007.

"This is a tremendous opportunity and I'm looking forward to helping bring the Auburn baseball program back to national prominence," Pawlowski said. "There is a rich history and tradition here at Auburn and I plan on working tirelessly to make this a national contender."

The 44 year-old Pawlowski compiled a record of 338-192-1 while at Charleston, including three consecutive NCAA Regional appearances from 2004-2006. This past year, he posted a 39-20 record overall and 18-9 in the conference. During his nine year tenure he's had 26 players taken in the Major League draft, including a school record nine this year.

"We are very excited to have John Pawlowski as our next baseball coach at Auburn University," said Jacobs. "Coach Pawlowski has experienced a tremendous amount of success as a head coach and has led several championship ball clubs. We look forward to him returning the Auburn program to national prominence."

Prior to Charleston, Pawlowski served as pitching coach at Clemson and then Arizona State. He spent nine years pitching in the Majors, playing for the Chicago White Sox, California Angels and Baltimore Orioles.

There's never a sure thing when hiring a coach - we all know that. But it appears that Jacobs has taken his time and done his homework. This looks like a solid hire and probably the best available coach out there for the taking.

This is not Pawlowski's first rodeo and he should be able to compete right away. With the resources now available to him, there's no reason why Auburn can't become regulars again in Birmingham each spring.

Jay, I've got to give you credit. You've done well. I think.

Poll

Did Auburn make the right decision in hiring John Pawlowski as its new baseball coach?

• Yes
• No

  129 votes | Results

By Jay Coulter
jccoulter@gmail.com

The search for the next Auburn baseball coach has taken more twists than 24 hours at LeMans.  It appeared for awhile that North Carolina State coach Elliott Avent was heating up as a prime candidate to replace Tom Slater.

Those rumors were quickly squashed when Avent released a statement saying that he'd agreed in principle on a contract extension with the Wolfpack.

"They showed interest, but my heart's with N.C. State," Avent told The Raleigh News and Observer. "It's a nice situation there, but we feel so good about all the things happening with our program. There's so much excitement and so many positives. Now is not the time to walk away.

Here we go again. Most of those close to the program believed a head coach would be announced no later than Saturday. Now it appears that may not happen.

The flavor of the day is current Oklahoma State coach Frank Andersen. He is believed to have spoken with athletic director Jay Jacobs this week. He's quickly built the Cowboys into a Big 12 power.

During his first season at OSU in 2004, he led State to the Big 12 Tournament title. In 2006, Andersen led the Cowboys to its best-ever finish in the Big 12 (second) and a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

There's a lot of speculation on the various Auburn message boards about why the search is continuing to drag on. We thought yesterday that Jacobs was close on an offer. Why he's being continually turned down is open for discussion.

This is starting to look like an Alabama football coaching search. There have been plenty of people willing to talk with Auburn, but not many wanting to take the bait. Auburn has some of the very best facilities in the country. Everything is in place to win with the exception of Alabama not being a lottery state, which hurts on the scholarship count. A lot of questions are starting to be asked by fans.

The next week will be telling for the future of Auburn's baseball program.

By Jay Coulter
jccoulter@gmail.com

After several weeks of little news to report in the search for a new baseball coach, Auburn appears to be moving closer to naming a new coach. Most of the talk this week has surrounded Texas Christian coach Jim Schlossnagle.

Schlossnagle interviewed with athletic director Jay Jacobs on Sunday and appeared to be the front runner until late Wednesday night when he returned to Texas and withdrew from consideration.

There are several ways to view this withdrawal. He either turned the job down or Auburn has opted to go in a different direction and may be close to naming a coach.

"Sometimes as a coach when you look at other opportunities you learn it confirms how great a situation you already have," Schlossnagle told The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. "I know it will make me an even better coach for TCU."

So where does Auburn go from here?

Once again, attention shifts back to Coastal Carolina coach Gary Gilmore (not the one that killed those people in Utah in the 1970's) and College of Charleston coach John Pawlowski. They both have interviewed with Jacobs.

Former Auburn player and Samford coach Casey Dunn appears to still be in the running, but at this point looks to be a fall-back candidate. Other names continuing to be mentioned include New Orleans coach Tom Walter and North Carolina State coach Elliott Avent.

An announcement from Jacobs should come by the weekend.

By Jay Coulter
jccoulter@gmail.com

Auburn's search for a baseball coach to succeed Tom Slater is stretching out longer than many expected. Athletic Director Jay Jacobs has offered few clues in his on-going search. For a while it appeared that Baylor's Steve Smith was emerging as a leading candidate. He interviewed with Auburn earlier in the week.

You can now scratch him off your list.

"After much prayer and consideration, I have decided to withdraw my name from consideration for the jobs both at Auburn and Mississippi State. I appreciate their interest and wish both programs nothing but the best,'' Smith said.

For any of you who have visited Waco, Texas, you know this is a stunner. To say that Waco offers few amenities is an understatement. I can't imagine him turning the job down at Auburn. Jacobs obviously elected to go in another direction.

Miss State has lured Kentucky's John Cohen to be its next head coach. Cohen is believed to have spoken with Auburn about its vacancy. He's one of the hottest names in coaching circles this year. He led the Wildcats to a 44-19 record this season. Kentucky wasted little time in its search, promoting assistant Gary Henderson to head coach.

Not everyone is happy about Cohen's move to Starkville, notably former coach and Bulldog legend Ron Polk.

"I just got slapped in the face, punched in the stomach," Polk said. "All my coaches have been slapped in the face, punched in the stomach by a young athletic director who has absolutely no clue what he's doing."

Polk said he plans to send athletic director Greg Byrne a letter that states "within 48 hours, my name comes off the stadium, comes off the centerfield fence, the banner off the concourse comes down. It will remain down until (Byrne) gets fired or somebody runs him off."

Talk about letting your mouth overload your... well, you get it. Polk has never been one to shy away from controversy, but even for him this is big. Polk felt strongly that one of his assistants should get the head coaching job.

Vince Dooley went on Polk's recommendation when hiring current Georgia coach David Perno. Polk served as coach for the Bulldogs for two seasons from 1999 to 2001. During that time Perno was his top assistant. Polk feels like Miss State should give him the same courtesy as Dooley did. This power struggle should be interesting to watch. My guess is Polk will lose.  What a shame it had to end this way.

So where does this leave Auburn? No one is really sure. Give Jacobs credit - he's kept this search quiet and professional. We could see a new coach named this week or it could drag on longer. Stay tuned.

 

Poll

How would you rate Auburn Athletic Director Jay Jacobs handling of the search for a new baseball coach?

• Moving at the right speed; making all the right moves
• Moving too slow; should have a coach on campus by now

  78 votes | Results

This story ran yesterday in the Birmingham News. While it's painful to read, unfortunately it's accurate. SEC baseball has become big business and Auburn is in danger of being left behind. The current search for a new coach is one of the most critical in Auburn's history...

Dear Auburn Baseball,

Greetings from Hoover, where you missed another week of intense, sometimes flawed, but always compelling SEC baseball. LSU returned as king. Your chief rival, Alabama, made a run to the semifinals. Top prospects showed their stuff for the scouts. Large crowds, lots of them, cheered them on. And once again, Auburn, you were MIA.

It's been five years since you last played at the SEC Tournament at Regions Park. My bad. You probably still know it as The Met. Since you last played here, every SEC team has reached the conference tournament at least twice. You're the only one that hasn't been here over the last two years, let alone five.

Where have you gone, Auburn?

You're the program that produced Frank Thomas, Bo Jackson, Tim Hudson and Gregg Olson.

You're the school with the best college ballpark in the state. You were one of only four SEC teams to reach the SEC Tournament every year between 1997 and 2003, something not even Alabama did.

You've tried hiring from the Hal Baird family. Steve Renfroe didn't do well enough. Tom Slater fared even worse. As an admission of how much the sport has passed you by, you've resigned yourself to using a search firm to find your next coach. With the right hire, you can be here again. But here's the danger, Auburn: No one is going to relinquish his spot for you. College baseball has exploded.

Did you watch the SEC Tournament in high-definition? If you were traveling to find a coach, Auburn, did you listen to the games on XM Radio?

Omaha just received an unprecedented 20-year agreement from the NCAA to keep the College World Series in a new stadium built specifically for the event. There is money to be made now.

"I think baseball will be a huge part of the new Southeastern Conference television package," said outgoing Mississippi State Athletics Director Larry Templeton, the chairman of the NCAA selection committee. "There's interest. Everybody is now video streaming if you're not on TV."

Five years ago, Auburn, your beautiful ballpark was voted the best in college baseball by Baseball America. Plainsman Park remains a charming facility. But you're not alone in fine ballparks. Next year, LSU and South Carolina will open ballparks they poured millions into.

The passion and expectations for SEC baseball teams is growing. Had you been in Hoover this week, you would have had a tough time matching the turnout and noise from Ole Miss fans.

Yes, Auburn, they sing "Hotty Toddy" in Hoover now. The SEC Tournament no longer relies solely on the big four: you, Alabama, LSU and Mississippi State. Ole Miss and Vanderbilt, who have two of the three worst winning percentages in SEC history and well behind your .536 clip, are part of the gang now.

You know Vanderbilt, right? You tried to hire its coach, Tim Corbin, and failed. He's taken Vanderbilt to at least the SEC Tournament semifinals in four of the last five years. Now, Auburn, you're regrouping in a different climate. The letters "APR" make coaches cringe. New scholarship guidelines mean your next coach better select his players wisely.

It's a brave, new world, Auburn. And it's not going back.

You're welcome to join any year now.

By Jay Coulter
jccoulter@gmail.com

In a move that surprised some, Auburn baseball coach Tom Slater stepped down on Saturday after a meeting with Athletic Director Jay Jacobs. In four seasons as Auburn's head coach, Slater had an overall record of 115-113 and a Southeastern Conference record of 43-77.

Throughout the season, Jacobs has been vocal in his support for Slater. Things seemed to change in recent days as Auburn fell from contention for the SEC Tournament next weekend in Birmingham.

Slater’s fate was sealed when he lost the first two games in Auburn’s final series of the year this weekend at home against LSU. Slater waited until after Saturday’s 11-7 loss to tell the team. Auburn finished the year with an overall record of 28-28 and 11-19 in the SEC.

"The bottom line is we needed to win more games," said Slater. "The record speaks for itself. I wish I had been able to accomplish that. I wish I had been able to win more games for Auburn University. This is a great university with a storied baseball program. I'll be rooting for Auburn no matter where I am unless I'm playing against them."

You have to give Slater props for handling the situation in such a class manner. Auburn will honor the final year of his contract.

Jacobs also deserves some credit. He stepped up and did the difficult, but right thing. There’s no doubt he could have retained Slater with little backlash from those that pull the purse strings. Hopefully, this shows that Jacobs is growing in his job.

Auburn will now turn its attention to a search for a new coach. The University has retained Carr Sports Associates out of Gainesville, Florida to assist in its search.

One name that has already surfaced as a candidate is current Samford coach Casey Dunn. The former Auburn All-American led the Bulldogs to the Ohio Valley Conference regular season title in his second season and was named conference coach of the year.

This year, Dunn has Samford heading to its conference tournament as the number two seed. Jacobs has set no timetable for the coaching search.

By Jay Coulter
jccoulter@gmail.com

Does Slater stay?

Few will argue that Auburn’s athletic program is in solid shape top to bottom. Most of the non-revenue sports are competitive in the SEC. Some are tops in the country – see men’s and women’s swimming.

The same cannot be said for two of the three teams that drive revenues for all the other sports. Taking football out of the equation, Auburn’s two other money sports, men’s basketball and baseball continue to struggle on the field and at the box office.

Following Sunday’s loss at Ole Miss, the baseball team has all but been eliminated from this year’s SEC Tournament. For those keeping score at home, it’s the fifth consecutive year that Auburn has been unable to punch its ticket to Birmingham.

Like basketball coach Jeff Lebo, Auburn's Tom Slater is expected to be given another mulligan at year’s end.

The question is why?

Many will point to Slater’s group and say this team is talented, but very young. Some will say wait until next year. We’ve all heard it before. In fact, we heard it back in February when athletic director Jay Jacobs defended Lebo.

Just wait until next year. We’ll get’em then.

Would Tommy Tuberville be afforded the same courtesy if he were in their shoes? Would the athletic department scream from the roof-top demanding that fans be patient and give him another chance?

Can you picture this:

"I realize that Tommy has struggled, but he’s had some tough luck. I’m completely confident that once everyone is healthy next year we’ll be competitive again. I don’t like missing a bowl game for four consecutive years either. And I certainly don’t enjoy losing four straight to Alabama," said Jay Jacobs after losing again to Alabama on Saturday.

"Fans have to realize that Tommy is building a program from the bottom up. He can’t help that more than half his team quit when he got here and he’s struggled to recruit since. We were two healthy players away from an invitation to the Independence Bowl."

Does anyone think for a minute that Jacobs or the board of trustees would take this approach with Tuberville? The question begs, why do they do it for basketball and baseball?

It’s time the athletic department expect the same excellence from baseball and basketball that it does from football. Auburn has been too bad for too long in both sports. Both are big business now – especially in the SEC. For Auburn to not be competitive every year is unacceptable.

Four years is plenty of time to build a program in any sport. The time for excuses is over. It’s time for Auburn to decide whether they want to be just a football school or play all three big boy sports.

The next several weeks will tell the tale.