A Sea Of Red

Scott Jackson
Assistant Coach // North Carolina

Was the pitching coach at Liberty before going to Carolina. Has been recognized by Baseball America as one of the top Assistant Coaches in America. Works with infielders and offense at Carolina.



Rick Robinson
Head Coach // UT-Martin

Prolific juco coach. Coached at ODU. Has been building program at UT-Martin for two years. Coached 43 guys who made it to the pros.



Graham Sykes
Assistant Coach // Michigan State

Won two Big South championships while playing at Liberty. Recruiting coordinator for Michigan State. Mainly works with outfielders and hitters. Has coached at Notre Dame and JMU along with multiple jucos.



Tim Teufel

Currently the third base coach for the NY Mets. Won a World Series as a player. Managed multiple minor league teams along with being a roving instructor as well. Father of former Liberty pitcher Shawn Teufel.

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Jackson, Sykes, and Teufel all have Liberty ties. I doubt Teufel gets a look because there were some relationship strains there in the past. Sykes could be exciting but he’s not a big time ACC/SEC assistant so I don’t know if Jeff will look to him. Robinson is intriguing because of his recruiting and development at the juco level. He hasn’t done terribly much at UT-Martin but then again, it’s UT-Martin. Jackson is the most intriguing in my book and who I think would be the leader in the clubhouse for me.

With all this said, it’s 100% uncertain what direction Jeff will go in. His past states that he’ll go for a big name ACC/SEC assistant or a recently fired ACC/SEC head coach. However, in the olympic sports (where he’s made better hires) he’s shown a willingness to take a chance on a more lesser known coach.

C'mon, don't you guys want this guy?:

Nope.

I am sure there are some more on the list. Wonder if the guy from Dallas Baptist would be a good fit.

flameshaw wrote:I am sure there are some more on the list. Wonder if the guy from Dallas Baptist would be a good fit.

Definitely. These are just the four I put together when I first heard of the position opening. I haven't taken the time to look at P5 firings.

Not a bad list.

But barber better open the check book for Dan Heefner. Dude can manage and recruit. Perfect fit for Liberty too.

Brandon Inge
Former MLB player

Lives in Lynchburg. Played in the Liberty golf tournament a couple weeks ago.

Jonathan Carone wrote:

Brandon Inge
Former MLB player

Lives in Lynchburg. Played in the Liberty golf tournament a couple weeks ago.

He was my first thought but does he have any dugout experience? Catchers make great managers He didn't play there a lot but he's a solid kid.

Dot didn't have experience before Jeff hired her.

Jonathan Carone wrote:Dot didn't have experience before Jeff hired her.

True.

Dot is a legend in her sport, kind of like hiring Jeter to coach, riding on the name rather then experience.

I'm more incline to believe JB is going to poach a HC from another school. I really do like Jackson on the list but he would be like Toman, coming in with a reputation and I don't know If JB will go that route again.

Others have no experience or hasn't shown much of anything yet in d1 ala. Robinson

ballah09 wrote:I'm more incline to believe JB is going to poach a HC from another school. I really do like Jackson on the list but he would be like Toman, coming in with a reputation and I don't know If JB will go that route again.

Jeff poached for women's soccer so that's definitely a possibility.

As for Jackson, he's never been a head coach but he's a great candidate.

There will be some former players interested as well. There is some great playing experience there, but not a lot of dugout time. Should be interesting.
Whoever it is might not have much time to make an impact. Toman averaged 37 wins a year which wasn't enough. Granted the BSC schedule is/was pretty weak.

Bream and Tomlin are definitely qualified. Not sure how their relationships are with Jeff currently.

Beasley? Where is he now?

flamehunter wrote:Beasley? Where is he now?

NVM - answered my own question. 3B coach with the Rangers, and fighting cancer right now. Probably not the best timing for him.

This guy has a great name and a former Cub!

http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/team ... fid=115647

Kendall Rogers ‏@KendallRogersD1 1h1 hour ago
One intriguing name mentioned to me on the #Liberty job: Mercer’s Craig Gibson. Coached at a private school w/ religious ties. Solid coach.

393-291 record with 3 straight regionals. Not bad. Don't be surprised to see Ryan Folmar's name get mentioned. from Oru.

ballah09 wrote:

Kendall Rogers ‏@KendallRogersD1 1h1 hour ago
One intriguing name mentioned to me on the #Liberty job: Mercer’s Craig Gibson. Coached at a private school w/ religious ties. Solid coach.

393-291 record with 3 straight regionals. Not bad. Don't be surprised to see Ryan Folmar's name get mentioned. from Oru.

Would we hire a Pentacostal? I'm sure we could snag a lot of high line drives though....

Matt Royer

Jonathan Carone wrote:Bream and Tomlin are definitely qualified. Not sure how their relationships are with Jeff currently.

There are a couple of more interested as well. Not sure what their chances are, we will just have to watch it play out.

Heefner was interviewed for the Texas job.

http://www.burntorangenation.com/2016/6 ... as-baptist

If the Longhorns go in a different direction, I say JB should go after him hard.

I would be interested to see Jackson as head coach Sykes as top assistant and retain Murray. Of course Haffner would be a hr but it would be a tough step for him.

Definitely need a guy with strong LU ties. Someone with skin in the game, more than a paycheck. LU could go to Omaha with the right coach and all Christian players. It can be done.

With basketball, Jeff said he was looking at guys that had head coaching experience. He's likely using that grid again this year.

Just for the heck of it, I went and looked at the non-P5 schools to make the super regionals since 2013. The list is:

Coastal (2016), ECU (2016), VCU (2015), ULL (2014, 2015), Houston (2014), Kennesaw State (2014), College of Charleston (2014)

Of those teams, two of the coaches are coaching at their alma mater (Coastal and Houston), one is a lifer (KSU), and one took an ACC job already (CofC). ULL and ECU would be a step down. The only one in play would be Shawn Stiffler at VCU. Are we a better job than VCU? As of 2013, he was making about 60% of what Toman was making. I imagine VCU upped his pay after the super regional but it likely wasn’t as much as Toman (who, coincidentally, was only getting about half of what Dot Richardson is getting so the pay check is there if we want to use it).

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If you combine super regionals appearances and this year’s non-P5 top 50 teams that we could reasonably steal from, you get these coaches as possibilities:

Dan Heefner (DBU - reasonable is a giant stretch on this one)
Steve Owens (Bryant)
David Pierce (Tulane - makes ‘a steep bump’ over $110k)
Shawn Stiffler (VCU - made $88k as of 2013, likely more now)
Matt Deggs (Sam Houston - makes $125k)
Greg Lovely (Wright State)
Mark Calvi (South Alabama - was at SC with Barber - making $125k as of 2010)

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Obviously there are other programs worth stealing from and assistants with head coaching experience, but that’s a list of some of the top non P-5 head coaches.