TicketsBy Bill Koch
GoBearcats.com
CINCINNATI – Is this finally the right guy?
Is Scott Googins the baseball coach who will end the University of Cincinnati Bearcats' 43-year NCAA Tournament drought? If you're looking for a reason to believe, consider this:
The 49-year-old Googins thinks enough of UC's potential to leave Xavier, where in 12 years he led the Musketeers to 341 victories – the most in school history – and four NCAA Tournament appearances, including regional final appearances in each of the last two seasons.
He'll begin with a state-of-the-art 3,085-seat stadium that he didn't have at Xavier, and what he considers a strong base of talent left by his predecessor, Ty Neal, who resigned last month after four years with a 91-132-1 record.
"We've got a lot of things in place here to be successful, not only the facilities, but the players," Googins said after he was introduced as UC's 28th head baseball coach Wednesday in the school's Lindner Center. "We've got quality student-athletes. We played them quite a bit this year (at Xavier). They're a great group of young men. Coach Neal did a great job in bringing in the right guys. I'm excited to coach them."
Googins' Musketeers were 34-27 this spring, won their second straight Big East Conference tournament title and lost to seventh-ranked Louisville, 8-7, on Sunday in the regional final at Louisville.
Three days earlier, Googins' agent, Lee Kaplan, had called to tell him that UC had a strong interest in him. It didn't take Googins long to tell Kaplan that he was willing to listen. Then he went about the business of coaching his team in the regional.
Googins said he was surprised when his agent first told him about UC's interest.
"My head started spinning," Googins said. "(Kaplan) said, 'You just go coach in the regional and don't worry about it and we'll talk after.' It was Thursday. He talked to me Sunday night and he said, 'You've got a meeting tomorrow night at 9 o'clock, will you be home?'"
On Monday night UC athletic director Mike Bohn, chief of staff Brandon Sosna and football coach Luke Fickell showed up at Googins' West Chester home. He said he was a little embarrassed that the grass hadn't been cut for a while, mostly because he had been busy coaching Xavier to the regional final.
"I walked out and said, 'I really apologize,' " Googins said. "It hasn't been mowed in a couple of weeks. Coach Fickell made a great comment. He said, 'If you were mowing your yard right now, you wouldn't be very happy.' I sat down with those three and my wife. They met my family. I couldn't feel more comfortable in the presence of those guys."
Googins was the only coach UC pursued, Bohn said, partially because of his Ohio ties – he played at Ohio Wesleyan and coached at Miami (Ohio) in addition to Indiana as an assistant – but also because of what baseball people said about him.
"Virtually every professional scout that knows anything about Cincinnati called and mentioned his name," Bohn said. "That was an unequivocal answer for us. His record and brand and watching him when we competed against them, you get a sense of what a quality person he is. And then when you meet his wife and his family you learn a little bit more."
The fact that Googins was the head coach at Xavier, UC's crosstown rival, was not a factor.
"It was never about that," Bohn said. "We have great respect for that institution, but our next head coach was going to come from some institution, just like when we hire a new dean or faculty member or even a president."
Under Googins, Xavier was 2-1 against the Bearcats this year, winning 9-1 on April 18, losing 10-8 on May 9 and winning 7-1 on May 16. Leaving the Musketeers was not easy, he said, because of the relationships he had developed there and what the program accomplished under his guidance. He said he had been happy at Xavier and wasn't looking to leave.
But the chance to coach at UC, with the benefit of Marge Schott Stadium as a recruiting tool and the chance to play in the American Athletic Conference, one of the top four baseball leagues in the country according to the Rating Percentage Index, was too much for him to pass up.
"Having those facilities, that opens doors to a lot of kids," Googins said.
So now it falls to Googins to stop UC's lengthy streak without an NCAA Tournament appearance. Since 1974, when the Bearcats made their last appearance under Glenn Sample, they've had six different coaches – Googins will be the seventh. Those six coaches have produced 13 winning seasons, 27 losing seasons and three .500 seasons. The Bearcats haven't won a conference championship since 1995 when they competed in the now-defunct Great Midwest Conference. They haven't posted a winning season since 2011.
Googins said he's eager to get started.
"I'm excited to coach these guys," he said. "It's a good group. They work hard. They're a hard-nosed group of guys. Those are the type of guys that I want to coach. I'm a blue-collar guy. That's what I'm looking for and they exhibited that the last couple of years when we played them. They get after it. They're very gritty. Those are my type of guys."
Bill Koch covered UC athletics for 27 years – 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at The Cincinnati Enquirer – before joining the staff of GoBearcats.com in January, 2015.
GoBearcats.com
CINCINNATI – Is this finally the right guy?
Is Scott Googins the baseball coach who will end the University of Cincinnati Bearcats' 43-year NCAA Tournament drought? If you're looking for a reason to believe, consider this:
The 49-year-old Googins thinks enough of UC's potential to leave Xavier, where in 12 years he led the Musketeers to 341 victories – the most in school history – and four NCAA Tournament appearances, including regional final appearances in each of the last two seasons.
He'll begin with a state-of-the-art 3,085-seat stadium that he didn't have at Xavier, and what he considers a strong base of talent left by his predecessor, Ty Neal, who resigned last month after four years with a 91-132-1 record.
"We've got a lot of things in place here to be successful, not only the facilities, but the players," Googins said after he was introduced as UC's 28th head baseball coach Wednesday in the school's Lindner Center. "We've got quality student-athletes. We played them quite a bit this year (at Xavier). They're a great group of young men. Coach Neal did a great job in bringing in the right guys. I'm excited to coach them."
Googins' Musketeers were 34-27 this spring, won their second straight Big East Conference tournament title and lost to seventh-ranked Louisville, 8-7, on Sunday in the regional final at Louisville.
Three days earlier, Googins' agent, Lee Kaplan, had called to tell him that UC had a strong interest in him. It didn't take Googins long to tell Kaplan that he was willing to listen. Then he went about the business of coaching his team in the regional.
Googins said he was surprised when his agent first told him about UC's interest.
"My head started spinning," Googins said. "(Kaplan) said, 'You just go coach in the regional and don't worry about it and we'll talk after.' It was Thursday. He talked to me Sunday night and he said, 'You've got a meeting tomorrow night at 9 o'clock, will you be home?'"
On Monday night UC athletic director Mike Bohn, chief of staff Brandon Sosna and football coach Luke Fickell showed up at Googins' West Chester home. He said he was a little embarrassed that the grass hadn't been cut for a while, mostly because he had been busy coaching Xavier to the regional final.
"I walked out and said, 'I really apologize,' " Googins said. "It hasn't been mowed in a couple of weeks. Coach Fickell made a great comment. He said, 'If you were mowing your yard right now, you wouldn't be very happy.' I sat down with those three and my wife. They met my family. I couldn't feel more comfortable in the presence of those guys."
Googins was the only coach UC pursued, Bohn said, partially because of his Ohio ties – he played at Ohio Wesleyan and coached at Miami (Ohio) in addition to Indiana as an assistant – but also because of what baseball people said about him.
"Virtually every professional scout that knows anything about Cincinnati called and mentioned his name," Bohn said. "That was an unequivocal answer for us. His record and brand and watching him when we competed against them, you get a sense of what a quality person he is. And then when you meet his wife and his family you learn a little bit more."
The fact that Googins was the head coach at Xavier, UC's crosstown rival, was not a factor.
"It was never about that," Bohn said. "We have great respect for that institution, but our next head coach was going to come from some institution, just like when we hire a new dean or faculty member or even a president."
Under Googins, Xavier was 2-1 against the Bearcats this year, winning 9-1 on April 18, losing 10-8 on May 9 and winning 7-1 on May 16. Leaving the Musketeers was not easy, he said, because of the relationships he had developed there and what the program accomplished under his guidance. He said he had been happy at Xavier and wasn't looking to leave.
But the chance to coach at UC, with the benefit of Marge Schott Stadium as a recruiting tool and the chance to play in the American Athletic Conference, one of the top four baseball leagues in the country according to the Rating Percentage Index, was too much for him to pass up.
"Having those facilities, that opens doors to a lot of kids," Googins said.
So now it falls to Googins to stop UC's lengthy streak without an NCAA Tournament appearance. Since 1974, when the Bearcats made their last appearance under Glenn Sample, they've had six different coaches – Googins will be the seventh. Those six coaches have produced 13 winning seasons, 27 losing seasons and three .500 seasons. The Bearcats haven't won a conference championship since 1995 when they competed in the now-defunct Great Midwest Conference. They haven't posted a winning season since 2011.
Googins said he's eager to get started.
"I'm excited to coach these guys," he said. "It's a good group. They work hard. They're a hard-nosed group of guys. Those are the type of guys that I want to coach. I'm a blue-collar guy. That's what I'm looking for and they exhibited that the last couple of years when we played them. They get after it. They're very gritty. Those are my type of guys."
Bill Koch covered UC athletics for 27 years – 15 at The Cincinnati Post and 12 at The Cincinnati Enquirer – before joining the staff of GoBearcats.com in January, 2015.