Former Baylor Coach Steve Rodriguez Releases Statement On Resignation
The Baylor Bears began a search for a new leader of the baseball program on Monday, following the resignation of former coach Steve Rodriguez, as insidethebears.com first reported.
He finished his time as the manager with a record of 197–134 overall and 67–75 in conference play.
Following his exit from the program, Rodriguez released a statement on his decision.
"While a decision of this magnitude is never easy, I am at peace with it," Rodriguez said in his statement. "Seven years is a long time at one place, and now it is time for a new voice to lead the Baylor Baseball program. I will forever be grateful to the outstanding young men who have played for me. I am just happy that I was able to help young men achieve their own goals of playing professionally, that our program helped young men find faith and that I have built lifelong friendships with players for my entire career. I wish every one of them the very best on the field and in life. My family and I wish Baylor the very best and will always cherish our times as Baylor Bears."
Baylor finished the 2022 season with a perfect .500 at 26-26. The concerns were in conference play against the other Big 12 opponents. The Bears posted a 7-17 record, winning only one series on the year against Kansas.
The Bears were then eliminated from the Big 12 tournament in an 11-1 loss to No. 4-seed Oklahoma State on Thursday. Not long after, Rodriguez resigned.
Baylor athletic director Mark Rhoades also released a statement on the departure of Rodriguez, thanking him for his time in Waco.
"We are grateful for Steve's time at Baylor over the past seven years and for his commitment to our student-athletes, our university and to Preparing Champions for Life," Rhoades said. "On behalf of Baylor University, I want to thank Steve and his family for their service, and we wish him, his wife Kim and their two children, Julia and Nolan, the very best as God directs their next steps. We have a world-class university and incredible momentum in Baylor Athletics, and I am confident we will identify and recruit a tremendous new head coach."
On Monday, sourves told InsideTheBears.com that the leading candidate to take over for Rodriguez is Mitch Thompson. Thompson currently serves as the head coach at McLennan Community College and has been one of the top CC coaches since his arrival in 2014.
Thompson is far from a stranger at Baylor, having served on its coaching staff in the past. Initially, Thompson joined the Bears in the 1995 season and was promoted to assistant head coach in 2010.
He has been highly regarded for his ability to recruit and develop talent from the junior college level in hopes of getting them ready for broader moments in their careers.
The official coaching search is expected to start immediately, but there is no timetable on when the announcement could be made of Rodriguez's replacement.
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Matt Galatzan the Editor-In-Chief of InsideTheBears.com, TheGroveReport.com, RamDigest.com, AllSeahawks.com, and TexansDaily.com. Galatzan graduated from the University of Mississippi, where he studied integrated marketing communications, with minors in journalism and business administration. Galatzan started in the sports journalism industry under Mike Fisher at DallasBasketball.com in 2014, which at the time was part of the 247Sports network. He also spent two years covering the SMU Mustangs for PonyStampede.com on the 247Sports network. When DallasBasketball.com and CowboysCountry.com moved over to Sports Illustrated's Fan Nation network in 2020, Galatzan followed suit, eventually being taking over as the Managing Editor and Publisher of LonghornsCountry.com and AllAggies.com a year later. Through the years, Galatzan has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, former Longhorns players Dan Neil and Phil Dawson, and many other recruits, and current/former players for each of the teams he has covered. Galatzan is also a full-time employee in the digital media department for Audacy and KRLD FM's 105.3 The Fan in Dallas, which is the official radio home of the Dallas Cowboys. You can find Galatzan on all major social media channels. For any inquiries, please email matt.galatzan@gmail.com