OMAHA, Neb. — The eight head coaches at this week's College World Series have their own unique stories about making it to the pinnacle of NCAA Division I baseball.
For Florida State's Mike Martin, the NCAA's all-time wins leader, it all began as a basketball coach at a junior college in Florida.
Vanderbilt's Tim Corbin, Louisville's Dan McDonnell, Michigan's Erik Bakich, Auburn's Butch Thompson and Mississippi State's Chris Lemonis got their big breaks after serving as Division I assistant coaches for a number of years.
And then there are Arkansas' Dave Van Horn and Texas Tech's Tim Tadlock, who cut their teeth in the junior college ranks of Texas - Van Horn as a head coach for five seasons at Texarkana College; Tadlock as an assistant coach at Hill College for four seasons and as a head coach at Grayson College for nine seasons.