That noise you hear is the sound of me hyperventilating as I breathe through a paper bag worried that John Savage is headed to Texas.
Augie Garrido stepped down/was forced out as the head coach at Texas after the baseball team posted its first losing record since 1998. The Longhorns are in the market for a new coach, and they are going big game hunting.
A report from 247 Sports’ Jeff Howe on Saturday said Texas was interested in UCLA’s Savage and Virginia’s Brian O’Connor. O’Connor has already said he is not interested in the job. Savage has not yet done so.
On Thursday, Kirk Bohls reported that Texas approached LSU’s Paul Mainieri and Savage about the job:
Source says Texas has approached LSU's Paul Mainieri about its vacant baseball coaching job. UCLA's John Savage still a candidate.
— Kirk Bohls (@kbohls) June 16, 2016
Mainieri is out of the mix as he said Thursday he will be staying at LSU. The school reportedly gave him a big raise.
That leaves Savage as a big name in the mix. There have also been reports saying Texas is interested in hiring Oregon State’s Pat Casey for the job.
Keep an eye on OSU's Pat Casey for the Texas job. Little birdie tells hints that he's the name to watch right now. Consider it a hint.
— Geoff Ketchum (@gkketch) June 16, 2016
Savage, 51, was formerly the head coach at UCI and helped relaunch that program. He moved over to UCLA in 2005 where he turned the Bruins into a dominant program, leading them to three College World Series, including a national championship. His specialty is identifying and developing top pitching talent. His teams have had a tougher time of late as he has lost many top recruits to the MLB Draft.
Casey, 57, has been at Oregon State since 1995. The Oregon native has taken the Beavers to the College World Series four times, including back-to-back titles in 2006 and 2007.
Texas might have to pay more than the $1 million they were giving Garrido. Savage signed a lengthy extension in 2013 that pays him a max of $1.125 million per season. Casey is signed through 2018 for a base of just over $300,000 per year.
