Mark Johnson Fired as Head Coach at A&M

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Mon May 23, 2005 5:43 pm

Kind of a shocker, but kind of not. 21 years as head coach at A&M with a .670 winning percentage is pretty damn good. It's been 6 years though since we made the World Series. Still, it will be hard to find a much better coach than Mark Johnson. Kind of like R.C. leaving the program has us in much better shape, I hope the same for our baseball program.

Best of luck and thanks, Coach Johnson.

SunCoastSooner · Post by **SunCoastSooner** » Tue May 24, 2005 3:19 pm

Any early rumors about the replacement?

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Tue May 24, 2005 4:07 pm

I haven’t heard anything. I live in Indiana now and don’t get to listen to local radio like I did in Dallas. I really don’t know anyone in the athletic department. Aggie Gal, if she ever shows up in here, could probably tell you more than I at this point.

I hear Cochell is looking for a job...

SunCoastSooner · Post by **SunCoastSooner** » Tue May 24, 2005 4:44 pm

Cochell needs to be more worried about his health than getting back in to coaching on the college level.

I hope aggiegal makes her way in here. I also Hope that A&M turns it around quickly. I think I have mentioned before that I have been caught with an A&M cap on my noggin on more than oneoccasion in my life.

See if you can't nudge her along in here.

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Tue May 24, 2005 7:38 pm

The more I think about it, I'm thinking we will be hiring Chris Rupp, HC at Sam Houston. He knows Texas HS baseball VERY well. He was recruiting coordinator at Rice recently who brought in a ton of the talent they've had in their recent past. Before that, he was at San Jacinto for a few years so he does know a lot of HS coaches.

Oh yeah, he went to A&M as well. I won't say it's a lock, but no one would be surprised if he's the guy.

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 8:31 pm

Looking more and more like our top choice is Horton from Cal St. Fullerton and our #2 is Tanner from South Carolina. Personally, I'd rather have Tanner. Coming from the SEC and doing well in Omaha in the past, he's more accustomed to battling with the big schools like we will have to do.

http://greenvilleonline.com/news/sports ... 165490.htm

SunCoastSooner · Post by **SunCoastSooner** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 8:54 pm

IndyFrisco wrote:Looking more and more like our top choice is Horton from Cal St. Fullerton and our #2 is Tanner from South Carolina. Personally, I'd rather have Tanner. Coming from the SEC and doing well in Omaha in the past, he's more accustomed to battling with the big schools like we will have to do.

http://greenvilleonline.com/news/sports ... 165490.htm

The question is would Tanner be willing to leave USC if they get the funding for the new facility?

I didn't read the article but I have heard the plans for the new baseball facilities in Colombia are going to be something to hang their hats on for awhile.

indyfrisco · Post by **indyfrisco** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 9:00 pm

Yeah, Tanner basically helped design the new 17.5 mil facility. There are several schools of thought.

- A&M will overpay the guy (doubt this will happen)
- He'll choose the H.S. talent rich Texas school over S.C. (doubt it)
- Horton will see another big name thrown in the mix, and the fact Tanner is onsidering it might make Horton a little more eager to sign for less $. (most likely in my mind)

In either case, I'll be happy with either Horton or Tanner. I'm not saying we're for sure getting either, I'd just be happy with either.

King Crimson · Post by **King Crimson** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 11:34 pm

i've got a cousin who played for Golloway at ORU...he thinks he's a great/tough/ no BS coach (went to ORU to play for him). i'm sure Sonny will land on his feet. hopefully at OU, imo.

A&M would be a good job, though.

SunCoastSooner · Post by **SunCoastSooner** » Sun Jun 05, 2005 3:48 pm

King Crimson wrote:i've got a cousin who played for Golloway at ORU...he thinks he's a great/tough/ no BS coach (went to ORU to play for him). i'm sure Sonny will land on his feet. hopefully at OU, imo.

A&M would be a good job, though.

Golloway should be shot for his base coaching.