Dan McDonnell is Jurich's man

[bullwark]

The Courier-Journal

Tom Jurich has done for coaching searches what the microwave did for cooking. But this time the University of Louisville athletic director took his time  a whole 11 days  before introducing former Mississippi assistant Dan McDonnell as the Cardinals' new baseball coach yesterday.

After losing Lelo Prado somewhat unexpectedly when he left to become head coach at South Florida on July 16, Jurich lured one of the nation's top recruiters to Louisville relatively quickly -- except when compared with some of his previous hires.

He landed football coach Bobby Petrino just four days after the resignation of John L. Smith, whom he hired only five days after the departure of Ron Cooper. It took Jurich only four days after the announcement of men's basketball coach Denny Crum's retirement to name Rick Pitino the only candidate for the job.

But for a job he hadn't expected to have to fill -- until Prado began talking with South Florida -- Jurich said he did even more homework than usual.

"I worked as hard on this as any job I've ever hired for," he said. "It was that important. This is a high-profile program for us. We really want to excel at baseball. We've made a huge commitment financially and a huge commitment to him. We gave him a good contract. So this is important to us, and I really believe this is a great day for our baseball program."

Jurich said he talked to major college head coaches, athletic directors, baseball analysts and people he met in his four years on the NCAA Division I baseball committee, "and it became very apparent who the top choice was going to be. … Every time I talked to those people, Dan's name came to the top."

McDonnell, who agreed to a five-year deal worth $140,000 a year plus incentives, said he knew of U of L's reputation but didn't realize what he would find on campus. The school's $8 million stadium is only about a year old, with new locker rooms and batting cages included.

"On the surface I thought I knew a lot about Louisville," he said. "However, I was greatly surprised and overly excited when I came here and spent a couple of days with the athletic program. Again, when you look around, just the resources and facilities are unbelievable. It took my excitement to another level. It's an awesome stadium, really. It's a beautiful facility with room to grow."

McDonnell, from Port Chester, N.Y., said he considers himself "a Big East guy." He played baseball at The Citadel and helped lead the Bulldogs to the College World Series in 1990, the first time a military school had made the field. He spent eight years there as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator before moving to Ole Miss.

In Oxford he also served as recruiting coordinator and landed five top-20-ranked classes in six years, including three that were ranked in the top 10. In 2005 the Rebels were the only college team with four players taken in the major league draft.

That McDonnell has become a head coach will be no surprise around college baseball. Baseball America columnist John Manuel called him "one of the true rising stars in college baseball, a first-rate recruiter. … He's not only shown he can win at the college level but has also shown an eye toward player development."

Ole Miss coach Mike Bianco said, "The U of L baseball program just got a lot better today."

That's what Jurich is banking on, and so are the Cardinals.

"We're all extremely excited to get this change," said outfielder Boomer Whiting, who has one year of eligibility left. "It comes at a perfect time. … After just five minutes with coach (McDonnell), you can tell he's a champion. You know he's a winner, and we're going to win next season."

Eric Crawford can be reached at (502) 582-4372.

[bulls96go]

why did we not get this guy

why did we have to "steal" UL, a fellow BE mmeber head coach?

if UL excels and we flop that is on woolard. prado better deliver!

Jurich seems NEVER to get caught with his pants down.

he must update his list of potential replacement coaches EVERY DAY, this man is proving himself the AD's AD. i am impressed!