USF Baseball: A New Face for Head Coach Coming Soon

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The USF Bulls baseball team is looking for a new coach. The Bulls are coming off their third straight losing season. They also failed to qualify for the AAC Championship tournament that the Tulane Green Wave won for the second year in a row. USF has been under the helm of Billy Mohl who was released on May 20th. The Bulls finished second-to-last in the AAC. This comes on the helm of two first-year head coaches Alex Golesh and Amir Abdur-Rahim having successful seasons. Coach Golesh took the football team from a one-win to a six-win season and a bowl win. USF’s first since 2017. Coach Amir Abdur-Rahim guided the basketball program to a school-record 25 wins, just missed March Madness, and did win one game in the NIT Tournament. It’s time for Michael Kelly to find a new baseball coach.

Chris Cates – USF Assistant Coach

This might be the best option for Michael Kelly. Chris Cates is already with the program after coming back from rival UCF. Cates returned in July 2023 after being with the USF Bulls from 2015-19. He helped USF in the batting average, slugging, on-base percentage, and stolen bases. The Bulls stole 86 bases, ranking in the top 50 in the nation, a substantial increase from 2023 in which they only stole 39 total bases. He has worked with multiple future MLB draft picks. Cates would probably keep the players that USF already has so they do not transfer.

Joe Urso – University of Tampa Head Coach

Getting Urso would be Kelly’s dream scenario. It will also be hard to get Urso from the University of Tampa. He is from Tampa. Urso has built one of the most impressive resumes in college baseball. The Spartans have been under his command for 24 years. He just recently won his 1,000 games as a head coach. Urso’s winning percentage is 77%. In Division II the Spartans to 10 NCAA Super Regional appearances and five national championships. It would be great for Joe Urso to be the new head coach, but getting him away from the Spartans would be hard.

Mike Silva – Nicholls State University Head Coach

Silva like Urso has built a good program at Nicholls State. In three years, he has the Colonels into a Southland Conference powerhouse. In 2023 the Colonels went 34-24 including a win over the eventual NCAA champion and #1 LSU Tigers. Also, in 2023 they won a conference title and earned a birth to the NCAA regionals. This season, Nicholls State improved to a 38-20 record. They added another Southland Conference championship and another NCAA regional appearance. If Silva gets hired, the fans hope for a fast turnaround, just like what occurred at Nicholls State.

Ryan Coe – Kennesaw State University Head Coach

Coe comes from Kennesaw State, the same university Amir Abdur-Rahim from. He wasted no time with the Owls since being hired in 2022. Coe led the program to a 36-28 record and an Atlantic Sun Conference championship in his first season. In 2024, he scored two big wins against top 25 teams with the biggest one beating the #10 LSU Tigers 18-1. If he gets the job, the USF faithful hope for the same big wins over big programs.

It will also come down to maybe one of these four gentlemen becoming the new USF Baseball coach. Michael Kelly will try and find the next successful head coach. The dream scenario would be to get Urso. Urso’s success would be great for the USF Bulls program. On the other hand, how many remaining players will stay and not transfer if he is brought here? Most will say that Chris Cates would be the right decision because he is familiar with current players. The other two options, Mike Silva and Ryan Coe, would also help the program move in the right direction. Let’s see which way the school goes and who gets hired.

Who would you choose out of these four candidates? Leave a comment below.

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