STARKVILLE — The next step in Jake Wells’ coaching career was about finding the right philosophical fit at a bigger program.
For John Cohen and the Mississippi State University baseball program, the task was finding the next young, up-and-coming coach to complete a staff that will lead the team to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
Both goals were accomplished Monday when MSU hired Wells, the former Marion (Ala.) Military Institute coach, to replace the Lane Burroughs, who left to become the coach at Northwestern (La.) State University. Wells will coordinate MSU’s summer and winter baseball camps and serve as a volunteer assistant coach.
“I really found a place to take that next step where it’s about more than baseball and it’s about character and makeup of kids in your program,” Wells said. “That was our philosophy at Marion, and we turned it literally from nothing to something people can be proud of very quickly.”
Wells, 29, spent the past two seasons as a coach at the Alabama junior college. The school re-instituted its baseball program in 2007. He spent that time developing a relationship with MSU’s coaches, and was an invited special instructor at MSU offseason camp in previous seasons.
“What he’s accomplished at Marion is amazing in terms of recruiting and the Division I players they’ve produced in the last couple of years,” Cohen said Monday.
Wells was an assistant at MMI when it went 37-19 and had left-handed pitcher Luis Pollorena sign with MSU. Pollorena became a critical part of MSU’s staff in 2011, and has 11 wins and nine starts in 38 appearances in the past two seasons. At MMI, Pollorena was named the 2010 Alabama Community College Conference Player of the Year after going 11-2 with a 1.77 ERA.
“Luis Pollorena is one of the greatest athletes and, more importantly, greatest kids we’ve produced at Marion,” Wells said. “People, not players but people, like Pollorena are what sets apart just good SEC teams from great SEC teams.”
According to NCAA rules, Wells won’t be able to leave campus to recruit, but Cohen said Wells will be an essential part of the recruiting process once recruits get to Starkville.
“We were able to turn nothing into something, (and) that is turning some heads in our league at Marion,” Wells said. “It was about promising kids we were going to teach them baseball at a higher level, but also give them a sense we cared about them personally. It’s really important kids get a sense this coach cares about me, my family, and my life beyond the park.”
Wells will work to develop depth at catcher at MSU. The Bulldogs will have a lot of youth and inexperience behind projected starter Mitch Slauter in 2012-13.
“When we saw him work with the catchers in our camps, I was immediately impressed with the instruction being given to those young players,” Cohen said. “He is somebody that knows the game and has been waiting for his opportunity to shine.”
Wells also will work with Cohen and assistant coach Nick Mingione on hitting instruction.
“(Catcher) is my spot,” Wells said. “That’s the position I was able to play for several years, and even a couple after I got out of college. I want to continue a tradition of being elite in the mental side of the game at that position. Everybody can play at the SEC level, but some catchers just rely on their natural ability, and we’re going to focus on the fundamentals of being a leader behind the plate.”
Before becoming a college coach, Wells was a standout at Blinn (Texas) Junior College, at Wallace (Ala.) Community College, and at the University of Montevallo. After leaving college, Wells played two seasons of Independent League professional baseball with the Laredo Broncos in Texas.
“He has the youthful exuberance we were looking for and is somebody our players will relate to and want to work hard for every day,” Cohen said. “He’s a young coach on the rise in this business, and that’s what we wanted.”
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