Grewe all but gone

It won't be official until Thursday, but David Grewe confirmed to me a few moments ago that he has decided to leave MSU to become associate head coach at LSU.

    "I'm really going to miss Michigan State," Grewe said from O'Hare Airport in Chicago, where he missed his connection to New Orleans on Wednesday. "I'm going to miss the people, I'm going to miss the families, I'm going to miss the players, I'm going to miss our baseball family."
    Mark Hollis, reached on his mobile, said he'll withhold comment until this becomes official. LSU has a news conference set for Thursday to announce Grewe.
    Grewe will wait to resign and inform his MSU players until he has seen and signed a contract. He said he also wants to make sure he doesn't get cold feet at the last minute but then added: "That's not gonna happen."
    If you want to know why this happened, the money can't be ignored. Grewe, who made about $80,000 a year at MSU, says he's getting a "significant pay raise." It's his understanding that he'll be the highest-paid assistant coach in college baseball.
    But that's just part of it. At LSU, he'll be competing for College World Series bids every year. It's the pinnacle of the sport. And he'll rejoin mentor Paul Mainieri -- and they've talked before about Grewe succeeding him some day.
    Add all that up and it's hard to blame him, despite the fact that MSU has a $4 million baseball stadium going up in time for next season. This is the basketball equivalent of going from the MAC to the ACC. The good news for MSU is, that stadium announcement last week has to enhance the attractiveness of this job to potential candidates.
    We'll have much more on this in Thursday's LSJ.

Comments

[stone]

this loss to lsu is a lot easier than the loss to lsu about 8.5 years ago

[Hondo]

Tom Izzo is rumored to be interested in the position.

[Marc]

This could end up being a win-win. Mainieri and Grewe get to work together again. That duo (along with Brian O'Connor, now Virginia's head coach) had a ton of success at Notre Dame, and will continue LSU's success this year.
On the other hand, MSU gets a chance to go get a quality head coach. But they'll have to wake up to baseball coaching salaries. They should be embarrassed that their head coach was making 80k. That's Horizon League level. And they need to go get a quality coach to compete with UofM - their coach is one of the best recruiters out there.

[Pdunn]

Joe, I love ya, but that analogy seems a bit off. No basketball coach would leave a head coaching job in the MAC for an assistant position in the ACC.
It seems that in college baseball the leagues are at different competitive levels. More like going from AAA manager to MLB bench coach. SEC schools are trying to win the college world series. Midwest schools spend their money on hockey.

[Michael Motta]

Good points Pdunn. But unlike SEC schools with hockey (and a few other sports too), midwestern schools HAVE baseball!

[Darryl]

Before they hand this job to Grewes assistant they should give a serious look to Jake Boss from Eastern Michigan whose team made the NCAA tournament in his first season and was a top assistant at scUM. He's from Lansing and should be very familiar with MSU. Possibly a great fit.

[True Spartan]

It sounds like Grewe is looking out for number 1. Can you blame the guy? I remember when he came and did all that talking about winning. He has a way out now, and I have the feeling he was NEVER in it for the long haul. Well he has not won yet and he has a chance to make more money for his family. Why not leave now? Then as soon as they win in the next few years he can take credit. Isn't that how it works.

I would rather have someone come in that is a tad more humble, and not make a bunch of statements and promises.

MSU has been used.

[True Spartan]

The following is a quote from David Grewe today's article in the LSJ:

"The MSU program has really been like a boat that's been docked for a long time," he said. "MSU hasn't been in the NCAA Tournament in 30 years, that's a long time. That boat, it was falling apart. I think it's been put back together and it's sailing.

"It has gone through some storms and now it's out there in the middle of the ocean, but there hasn't been a sunset yet. It's moving in that direction.

"The next three years are going to be the best three years for MSU baseball, I really believe that. I hope I can look back on that program in three to five years and say, 'You know what, I recruited a lot of those guys and I gave a little bit of the aid in that success.'"

Are you kidding me? Is he serious with all of this? A docked boat?...sunsets...? What? It would be easier if he just resigned and moved on. This is too sentimental for me...too greeting card. And back to my original point, he is not a Spartan.

Too bad he is going to abandon ship.

[BBSparty]

Lay off the guy. The fact of the matter is that MSU is not a destination job in college baseball. If we land a quality coach, we need to be prepared that they will be looking to move on. Despite what has been written on these boards about him, I have spent time with Coach Grewe and watched him interact with his players and assistants. He is a quality coach and a quality person.

[Darryl]

According to was reported earlier in the week his job wasn't that secure here at MSU. Not everyone was impressed with his performance. To me it sounds like a win win situation. MSU gets another crack at highering the right guy and Grewe gets to return to being an assistant coach which he was good at. The key is MSU needs to do its homework and get it right this time.

[True Spartan]

When you are a head coach at a Big Ten university you enter a glass house. I don't feel like anything has been said in this thread about him being a bad person.

[BBSparty]

You're right, TrueSpartan. The character assassinations were in the thread from yesterday. His players hate him, parents hate him, etc. I think you said he hasn't earned the respect of many. I personally think he has the program headed in the right direction and hopefully Tony Baldwin will be hired and will be able to keep it going, and then some.

[JRS]

MSU has never been serious about improving their baseball program and that $4 million donation ultimately isn't going to help
that much. The problem is the pitiful level of fan support, the
time they play (who wants to watch or even play baseball in early or middle of March in Michigan?) and games often during weekday afternoons (now that is a great way to attract a crowd not). The problem with fan support also is related to the April/May time period when many students are working on research projects or
studying for final exams, just not convenient for paying attention to
sports. And of course interest in the Lansing Lugnuts in the general area overshadows MSU's baseball program as well making it an afterthought if even
any thought at all locally.

[Chet Lemon]

WHO CARES!!! I mean really, college baseball should be a club sport. I was at Stanford during the Mike Mussina years, when they won two College World Series, and it went largely unnoticed. The women's volleyball team was a bigger draw than baseball. During my 4 years at MSU, I don't know of anyone who went to a game or could name a player on the team.

[zing]

Hey LSU...go suck your own.

Things seem to work out for the best. Coach Grewe is clearly making a change for the money. Flat out. His last two recruiting classes were highly ranked so he's not running a bunch of scrubs onto the diamond. It is what it is. He's a greedy s.o.b. Good ridance.

Perhaps a Izzo/Dantonio-esque baseball coach is out there (or already on the staff) that wants to be here for the long haul and make a difference.

Hey Grewe...I'll help pack your bags and drive you to the airport. Please let me know if there is anything I can do to help you the get the hell out of town as quickly as possible.

[spartanstars]

I hate losing a coach to anything other than firing or retirement.

[West Coast Steve]

Much of this comes down to money and climate. So, in baseball northern schools, including leaders like the Big Ten, have challenges even a CSU Fullerton or Tulane doesn't. As sited above by contrast, we're in the catbird seat in hockey, a sport I prefer over baseball.

Anyway, future baseball success hinges on superb facilities to balance out the shortened outdoor practice season, advantageous salaries, and an Izzo or Dantonio-quality person to make magic. We're not there yet, but the new facilities and a dynamic new coach will be huge steps forward.

Then the program has to be marketed and fans have to show up in significant numbers. These steps will sure help motivate the best baseball kids in the Midwest to stick around and put us on the map in that sport. Meanwhile, I'm pretty darn content with MSU hockey, where the sunbelters are no-shows.

[Luke]

*Megaphone Voice*
DOUCHEBAG

[Rob]

This isn't sour grapes but in the grand scheme of things....who cares? Even if State gets better....who cares? Even if they make it to the CWS....who cares? Fresno State just won the tournament and outside of central California...who cares? Never mind the fact that its a college sport that is wrapping up its season 2 months after the students left. Again...who cares? disinteresting,

[True Spartan]

Well you must care or you wouldn't have taken the time to read and post, Rob.

Believe it or not, some people like to follow baseball. Not everyone listens to talk radio all summer while they discuss the football season that is months away.

[Spartanbball]

Great to see so many of you guys out there support us....(Rob). We bust our asses and try to draw fans and it is people like you who hurt our rep. We are players playing for the university that you love, at least support and respect us.

-Spartan baseball player

[Chris]

Like I said before, I hope he enjoys life at a school under NCAA scolarship reductions. Louisana is a terrible place to live...Tulane is a much better school than LSU.

[Green and White fan]

Coach had no friends at MSU. He had so many flaws .He saw the hand writing on the wall.Be fired for treating the players,families and alum poorly or get another job elsewhere. Goodbye to a loser.

[Green and White fan]

Coach had no friends at MSU. He had so many flaws .He saw the hand writing on the wall.Be fired for treating the players,families and alum poorly or get another job elsewhere. Goodbye to a loser.

[Michael Motta]

Slightly off-topic, but I have some pleasant news for Spartan Nation. I checked the final standings for the Directors' Cup 2007-08, and MSU finished #29! http://nacda.cstv.com/auto_pdf/p_hotos/s_chools/nacda/sports/directorscup/auto_pdf/d1finalstandings

I believe when a month or so ago I looked up the earliest period of the Directors' Cup, 1993-94, we finished #60 then.

To cut our place number into less than half of what it was a mere 14 years ago I find pretty amazing! So was Ron Mason as bad as some people say? If he was, the few AD's before him must have been deities! I like Clarence Underwood, but he's not quite a deity. Credit should be given to both of these guys and whoever else helped. I can't remember all the ADs off the top of my head, but surely Mason didn't exactly send us reeling backwards.

Times are looking up!