It didn't take long for West Virginia athletic director Oliver Luck to axe former skipper Greg Van Zant following the Mountaineers' season-ending loss to South Florida.
“Greg has spent a total of 26 years with the Mountaineer baseball program, including the last 18 as head coach, and we appreciate his many years of service to West Virginia University,” Luck said in his cookie-cutter statement released less than one hour after the loss which marked WVU's sixth losing season in Big East Conference play in the last nine years.
It was later rumored that Luck had notified Van Zant as many as two weeks prior to the season finale that he would be let go at the end of the season.
None of this, however, comes as a surprise to Mountaineer fans.
After leaving an interview session following an early season loss to Manhattan in March, a WVU fan asked me, "When's the new head coach coming?"
I wanted to say "very soon," but I held my tongue at the time.
The move was a long time coming and now, as WVU prepares for its transition to the Big 12 Conference, absolutely necessary.
Over 18 years with Van Zant as the head man, WVU made the NCAA tournament only one time — a trend that simply won't stick in the Big 12.
So with the Van Zant era now in the past, Luck will look to replace the 18-year veteran with the objective of augmenting the mediocre Mountaineer baseball program.
Plans are already being drawn up to fix up WVU's subpar baseball facilites and the next step is to find a new coach to help in the rebuilding.
Luck has not given official comment on the coaching search yet but, among the early rumored by Dave Hickman of the Charleston Gazette candidates for the rebuilding task are two proven, veteran coaches.
Pat Murphy, former head coach at Notre Dame and, most recently, Arizona State, is approaching the 1,000 win mark for his career and has reached the College World Series four times.
However, Murphy was let go from ASU in 2009 amid NCAA investigations. He currently is the head coach for the San Diego Padres' class-A affiliate in Eugene, Ore.
Yesterday, Chip Fontanazza of the MetroNews reported that former Tennessee head coach Rod Delmonico will interview for the opening.
Delmonico took over at UT in 1990 and in just five years, the Volunteers earned their first CWS birth since 1951, one of three appearances in his 18-year tenure — three more than Van Zant could claim during his 18-year reign.
A proven coach like Murphy or Delmonico may not be a bad choice for a program that is hoping to improve and compete quickly.
But, selecting an aging, veteran head coach isn't quite in-line with the typical behavior of Luck during his tenure.
Fontanazza has also added Virginia assistant coach Kevin McMullan, North Carolina State assistant Tom Holliday, and St. Johns assistant coach Mike Hampton to the list of possible replacements.
It may be one of the names above or a dark horse candidate, but I certainly expect Luck to continue his trend of selecting a young coach who can put their personal stamp on the rebuilding program to fill the vacancy.
Hey, it certainly worked out with the addition of head football coach Dana Holgorsen, so why wouldn't Luck try his luck again with another young, popular coaching commodity?
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