Clemson's BOT to Approve New Baseball Coach

Clemson's BOT will hold meeting at 10:30 a.m. on Thursday to approve contract and salary recommendation for head baseball coach

CLEMSON, S.C. -- Clemson University's Board of Trustees announced Wednesday it will hold a called meeting to approve its new head baseball coach on Thursday morning.

The BOT's meeting is set for 10:30 a.m. on Thursday. The board will  approve a contract and salary recommendation for Clemson's new head baseball coach.  

Michigan head coach Erik Bakich is expected to be approved as Clemson's 29th head baseball coach.

Clemson Athletics also announced it will hold a press conference on Thursday at 2 p.m., at Doug Kingsmore Stadium, to officially introduce its new head baseball coach.

All Clemson reported Tuesday, through multiple sources, Bakich was the guy new athletic director Graham Neff targeted to be Clemson's new head baseball coach.

Bakich will replace Monte Lee, who was let go on May 31. Lee spent seven seasons as Clemson’s head coach.

The former Michigan head coach got his start in the coaching business as a Clemson volunteer assistant under Jack Leggett in 2002. Those ties to the Tigers made him a serious candidate to replace Leggett back in 2015 when Lee was hired.

Bakich worked under Tim Corbin, who is also a former Leggett assistant, at Vanderbilt before landing his first head coaching job at Maryland. By the end of his third year, he turned the struggling program into a winner.

He has been with the Wolverines since 2013, guiding Michigan to a 328-216 record and a College World Series runner-up finish in 2019. This past season, Bakich guide the Wolverines to a 34-28 record, which included a Big Ten Championship and a trip to the finals of the Louisville Regional.

Bakich, who is 44 years-old, becomes the 29th head baseball coach in Clemson history. However, he is just the fourth man to lead the program since 1958.

Bill Wilhelm led the program for 36 years from 1958-’93, while Leggett was the head man for 22 years from 1994-2015.

Wilhelm took the Tigers to six College World Series appearances and won 1,161 games during his time at Clemson. Leggett also took Clemson to the CWS six times and won 955 games.

Lee took over the program in the summer of 2015. In his seven seasons at Clemson, Lee’s teams were a combined 124-93 in ACC play and 242-136 overall. However, the Tigers missed the last two NCAA Tournaments which ultimately led to Lee’s dismal.