Everyone has special memories.
My four-year odyssey as a student at Mississippi State is highlighted by several of those moments, including a snow storm that delayed an algebra exam until 10 p.m. on a Saturday. It also includes the time my clothes were placed in the washing machine at Suttle Hall. Two hours later, someone dried my clothes, folded them, and placed them in my basket.
Twenty-five years after those moments and Friday afternoon at the Mill, John Cohen was introduced as the new Director of Athletics at MSU. The stroll back down memory lane took me back to the first time I met Cohen.
As a senior at Laurel High School, MSU baseball coach Ron Polk was recruiting middle infielder David Perkins. As the Bulldogs’ interest grew in Perkins, so did Polk’s desire to bring me in a student-manager for the baseball team.
While moving to Starkville wasn’t a major cultural adjustment in 1989, it was a shock for a young man with limited social experience who didn’t travel much and didn’t do much socially.
As the story goes, Polk had a signing party where he brought Perkins and me into the fold.
On the first day of fall practice, I was in the locker room, learning my responsibilities from three veteran managers. The new guy was young, shy, and unsure of his surroundings.
The first player I met was Burke Masters. The MSU third baseman at the time, Masters entered MSU lore late that season with a game-winning grand slam against Florida State in the NCAA regionals. Current Arkansas State baseball coach Tommy Raffo was the second player I met. Masters and Raffo were outgoing and gracious and welcomed me to the program with a professional greeting.
A handshake from Cohen followed. Brass, in-your-face, bouncing-off-the wall, full-of-life, all of those things fit Cohen’s personality. His handshake was powerful, his smile was bright, and the greeting was “out there” to say the least. I couldn’t help but wonder how many Cohens were going to be in my future when I met the rest of the players.
The son of a law professor at Alabama, Cohen was naturally outgoing. During a rain delay, we were in a hotel in Auburn, Alabama, playing cards. That season broadcaster Jim Ellis had a pretty good run playing cards. Cohen’s dad was so upset at a hand he pounded his fist into the table and the whole thing collapsed.
My freshman season was Cohen’s senior campaign. MSU had a large senior class and the team made a surprising run to Omaha, Nebraska, and the College World Series. Cohen was a big part of that success. He was the go-to, in-your-face, we-will-get-this-done guy every team needs.
Cohen was tough and gritty as a player. He was even more determined in the locker room.
Baseball players and managers lived in the athletic dorm, McArthur Hall. Catcher Jim Robinson was the elder statesman there. He gave advice and always dated the most attractive females. You can learn a lot from that type of person.
In my first month of campus, Robinson told me Cohen was the problem solver who would have the answer to a problem or argue you down until he had the answer. Every team needs a sparkplug. Cohen was that.
In college, few friendships are kept. Turns out, the people you spend the most time with are the ones who drift the most. The casual people in your college life are the ones who write, text, and email even today.
When our time on the MSU baseball team ended, you knew Cohen would do something big. He had a brief professional career in the Minnesota Twins farm system. However, you had the feeling that being a lawyer or being a baseball coach would be his eventual calling.
After completing his playing career, Cohen started his career as a baseball coach at Missouri. Our paths later crossed during my time at the Hattiesburg American newspaper. Cohen was coaching at Northwestern State in Natchitoches, Louisiana. We had two players in the area who had flown under the radar. I drove those players to meet Cohen. He worked both out and welcomed me back like we were still at MSU.
In 2008, when Polk announced his second tenure as MSU head coach would be ending, the speculation was intense. Polk pushed for Raffo, who was his assistant coach at the time, to get the job. Others wanted Cohen to leave Kentucky to come back home.
My phone went into overdrive. Many wanted my opinion about who should get the job and who would get the job. Raffo and Cohen were neighbors while I was in school. It was a tough call, but the best thing to do was remain silent and not take the calls.
After Polk had pretty much been the head of the program for three decades, many felt a change was best — a break from someone with Polk ties. While Cohen played for Polk and thanked him again Friday for bringing him to MSU in the first place, there is a little question Cohen was his own man. The gap between former coach and player grew wider as the push for Raffo intensified.
Cohen took over the MSU baseball program in 2009. His in-your-face style hadn’t change. He was a go-getter. He was consumed with a burning passion I have seen in only a few people. Everything that made Cohen successful as a player made him successful as a coach.
In 2013, MSU returned to the College World Series and played in the national championship series. While winning games and recruiting top players, Cohen always had his eye on being a director of athletics. He worked closely with former MSU Directors of Athletics Greg Byrne and Scott Stricklin. He was so much more involved than the average person realized.
That’s why the timing felt right Friday. Being a director of athletics at a Power Five conference takes relentless effort. MSU President Mark Keenum said the school’s goal is to compete for national championships in all of its 16 sports.
Cohen already was competing for championships in his sport. Now, he will try help MSU’s other teams do the same thing.
The first meeting with Cohen was powerful. It stood out in my mind long before he returned to Starkville in 2009. As Robinson once told me, he remains a problem-solver.
Sometimes casual friends do stay in your life longer than others. I am glad Cohen fits that bill.
Scott Walters is a sports writer for The Dispatch. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @dispatchscott.
Scott was sports editor for The Dispatch.
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