In ancient Greek philosophy, it was called “First Cause,” the idea that everything seen in the visible world can be linked to one original source or “first cause.”
Applied in a less cosmic sense, you could make the argument that the “first cause” for the success Mississippi State’s football and baseball programs now enjoy can be attributed to the first of three hires made in 2008.
It was not a banner year for either program on the field. MSU’s football team struggled to a 4-8 record (2-6 in Southeastern Conference play), while the baseball team limped to a 23-33 finish (9-21 in the SEC).
Off the field, however, the three hires changed the trajectory of MSU sports.
Friday, Mississippi State’s baseball team, fresh off its SEC regular season championship and a three-game romp through last week’s NCAA Regional, will play host to the University of Arizona in a best-of-three series. The winner heads to Omaha for the College World Series.
Arizona’s arrival means a return of MSU’s “first cause,” in the form of Wildcats’ Athletic Director Greg Byrne.
In February of 2008, Byrne, then 36 years old, was chosen to replace long-time MSU Athletics Director Larry Templeton. Four months later, Byrne hired John Cohen to replace legendary baseball coach Ron Polk, who was retiring. Six months after that, Byrne hired Dan Mullen as the Bulldogs football coach.
Byrne’s stealth in keeping those coaching searches a secret from the prying eyes of reporters earned him the affectionate moniker “The Ninja,” a name he seems to relish. The affable young AD quickly became a favorite of the media.
While Byrne served as AD at MSU for only two-plus years, his impact endures, where Cohen and Mullen have proven to be consistent winners.
Mullen’s success has no precedent at MSU. In seven seasons, he has coached the Bulldogs to six straight bowl appearances, despite playing in the rugged SEC West.
Similarly, Cohen has guided MSU to the postseason in five of eight seasons, including an NCAA runnerup finish in 2013. The Bulldogs are the No. 6 national seed in this year’s tournament and the only thing that stands between MSU and it’s 10th trip to the College World Series is Byrne’s Wildcats.
A young AD vs. a coaching legend
Where would the Bulldogs be without Mullen or Cohen? It might be better to ask where MSU would be without Byrne.
Byrne is reluctant to accept the credit, pointing out that there were many in the administration who helped him with both hires.
The hire of Cohen looms large, mainly because of the extraordinary circumstances.
Polk, the architect of MSU baseball and a coach widely acclaimed as being college baseball’s greatest advocate at a time when the sport was not much more than an after-thought at many schools, had recommended that Tommy Raffo, his hitting coach and a former MSU player, be his successor.
Byrne was confident that Cohen, another former MSU player who had worked wonders as coach at Kentucky, was the right choice.
It would have been easy — the path of no resistance, in fact — for Byrne to defer to Polk’s wishes. That a first-time AD making his first major hire just a few months in the job would butt heads with Polk, a move that for a time split MSU faithful, is pretty remarkable.
“I have all the respect in the world for coach Polk,” Byrne told The Dispatch on Tuesday. “He obviously had a tremendous amount of pride of ownership in Mississippi State baseball and rightfully so. It would have been irresponsible for me not to listen to him. But at the end of the day, you have to do what you believe is right for the program. That’s the decision I made.”
Now in his sixth season at Arizona, Byrne has also hired a football coach (Rich Rodriguez) and a baseball coach (Jay Johnson, now in his first season).
Byrne’s willingness to defy convention in hiring was evident in Johnson’s hiring, too.
With four national championships to its credit, the coaching job at Arizona is among the most coveted in the game. Instead of pursuing a high-profile coach, Byrne chose Johnson, the coach at Nevada, a school with little notoriety.
“Part of our philosophy is that we want to find people that are on their way up,” Byrne said. “We aren’t necessarily going to outspend some schools on salaries, but we do want to find those future rock stars out there. We feel like we got that with Jay.”
The results speak for themselves. In his first season, Johnson had guided the Wildcats into the NCAA postseason a journey punctuated by Arizona’s remarkable rise through the loser’s bracket to claim the regional title at Lafayette, Louisiana, beating the home team twice Monday to earn the trip to Starkville.
“I”d be lying if I said we’d be talking about a Super Regional this year when we hired Jay,” Byrne said. “But we did have some really good players coming back and Jay’s done a great job of putting everything together.”
Old friends reunite
The Wildcats’ success in Lafayette means Byrne will be making a business trip to Starkville that gives him the chance to reunite with MSU AD Scott Stricklin, who was promoted to the AD job after Byrne’s departure with his enthusiastic support.
It’s not likely the two young ADs will have much to catch up on, however.
“Scott and I talk probably a couple of times a week,” Byrne says. “We’re very close. I trust him implicitly. I know that whatever the subject, I’m going to get good feedback. He’s a great communicator and a great listener. And, of course, he’s done a tremendous job there. I knew he would.”
Stricklin, 46, returned to his alma mater when Byrne arrived at MSU in 2008. They two worked closely during Byrne’s two-plus years in Starkville. Byrne says Stricklin was intimately involved in all of the major decisions he made.
That bond has not been weakened since Byrne’s departure.
“I owe a lot to Greg, both personally and professionally,” Stricklin says. “If something happens, he’s one of the first phone calls I make. Many times I have taken him into my confidence. There aren’t many people you can do that with.”
Stricklin says he will enjoy hosting his old friend this weekend, although he does confess the circumstances will be a little difficult.
“In this situation, you are competing against your friend,” Stricklin says. “I don’t like losing, but I don’t like my friend losing, either. I guess, if you’re going to lose, you would rather lose to a friend. I just hope it’s Greg who loses to a friend this weekend.”
Byrne has a similar view, of course, but he says it will be good to be back in Starkville, no matter the outcome.
“I love Mississippi State,” he says. “I will always love Mississippi State.”
As for his “Ninja” nickname, Byrne laughs.
“Hey, I’m 6-foot-6,” he says. “Believe me, I’m not good at hiding. But I took it as an endearing name. There are worse things you could be called, right?”
Slim Smith is a columnist and feature writer for The Dispatch. His email address is [email protected].
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 37 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.