Tracking the 2009 coaching changes

The coaching carousel is off to a rather slow start with only a few schools announcing coaching changes thus far. However, there are some intriguing openings and hires to follow.

Yahoo! Sports will keep you up to date on the latest in all of the coaching searches in College Baseball. Whenever news develops and candidates are mentioned, you can find the inside scoop right here.

If anyone has news or notes that might want to be shared with us, feel free to e-mail Yahoo! Sports College Baseball editor Kendall Rogers.

Coaching changes
Alcorn State
	OUT: Willie McGowan McGowan was a legendary coach for the Braves and decided to retire at the conclusion of the 2009 season.	IN: Barrett Rey Rey previously spent three seasons at Grambling State, where he led the Tigers to consecutive SWAC tournament appearances. Before his arrival at Grambling, the Tigers hadn’t reached the conference tournament in seven seasons.
	Southern has a stronghold on the SWAC, but Alcorn State hopes to make a move with Rey in charge of the program. Rey compiled a 56-94 record at Grambling State in his three seasons. This past season, the Tigers reached the semifinal of the conference tourney. Rey played college baseball at Southern.
Grambling State
	OUT: Barrett Rey Rey left Grambling State after three seasons to take the head job at Alcorn State. He finished his three-year career at Grambling with a 56-94 record.	IN: James Cooper Cooper is one of the youngest coaches in college baseball and previously served as an assistant for Rey.
	Cooper earned a pair of degrees from Gambling State and as a player for the Tigers finished his career as a three-time all-conference selection. Following his playing career, Cooper had a brief stint in the Houston Astros organization. He is only the fifth head coach in Grambling State history.
Indiana State
	OUT: Lindsay Meggs The Sycamores took a leap a few seasons ago by hiring Meggs, and boy, did the hire turn out to be a good one. Meggs spent three seasons with the Sycamores and led them to a solid 33-21 record this past spring.	CANDIDATES: To be determined
	After establishing some success last season, it’ll be interesting to see what direction Indiana State chooses to go with its coaching search. The last time around the Sycamores were very open about their search. However, officials expect the search to be closed-door this go-round with not much time to waste in the heat of recruiting season.
Marist
	OUT: Dennis Healy Healy led the Red Foxes to an NCAA regional last season and now will redirect his efforts to helping build a consistent winner at Wake Forest as a member of Tom Walter’s coaching staff. Healy spent four seasons with the Red Foxes and certainly is a hot coach after leading the Red Foxes to the Tallahassee Regional.	IN: Chris Tracz The Red Foxes made another good hire by naming Tracz their new coach. Some may view Tracz as too inexperienced for the job, but he has plenty of experience having played and coached for Marist in recent years. He spent last season as Army’s pitching coach.
	The Red Foxes have had some good coaches the past few seasons. Joe Raccuia moved from Marist to Alabama and now is the head coach at Radford. Healy, meanwhile, will look to etch out his own coaching career down the road with the move to Wake Forest. The Red Foxes have decent history and tradition for a program in the Northeast, and they made another good hire by appointing Tracz the new coach. He’s young and energetic and spent a season with an Army program that reached the Austin Regional title game this past season.
Maryland
	OUT: Terry Rupp After nine seasons with the Maryland program, Rupp resigned following the ’09 season. In his nine years with the Terps, Rupp compiled a 227-271 record and 61-183 mark in Atlantic Coast Conference play. Interestingly. Maryland’s 10 ACC wins this past season were the most the program had recorded since 1972.	IN: Erik Bakich Bakich is ready for a head coaching job after spending seven good seasons as a stud recruiter at Vanderbilt. He was one of the top assistants in the SEC and has had opportunities in the past to have a head coaching gig.
	The Terrapins have a poor facility by ACC standards, but if there’s a guy that can still manage to recruit with facility disadvantages, it’s Bakich. Bakich spent seven seasons at Vanderbilt, and is one of the nation’s best recruiters. The Terrapins are in a talent rich region for high school baseball recruits. So, hiring Bakich makes a lot of sense. It’ll be very interesting to see how quick Bakich can improve the program’s attitude.
New Orleans
	OUT: Tom Walter Despite Hurricane Katrina serving as a huge obstacle a few years ago, Walter still managed to lead the Privateers to a pair of NCAA regional berths. After a successful stint at UNO, Walter is now the coach at Wake Forest.	IN: BRUCE PEDDIE After spending three seasons as associate head coach for Tommy Walter, Peddie finally gets an opportunity to lead the UNO program. Peddie also served as recruiting coordinator and hitting coach under Walter.
	After spending five successful seasons at New Orleans, coach Tom Walter decided to make a better move for his career by moving to the ACC to coach Wake Forest. New Orleans is keeping its baseball program despite a budgetary crisis plaguing the athletic department. They also have a coach in Peddie that is very familiar with what it takes to build a winning a product at UNO.
Southern Mississippi
	OUT: Corky Palmer What Palmer accomplished during his tenure at Southern Miss is nothing short of magical. Palmer guided the Golden Eagles to seven consecutive NCAA regional appearances and led the program to its first College World Series berth this past season. Palmer finishes with a 963-493 career record while going 458-281 in 12 seasons at the helm of the Golden Eagles. He announced his retirement in May.	IN: Scott Berry Palmer made it perfectly clear down the stretch of the ’09 season who he wanted directing the Southern Miss program after his retirement. Scott Berry was that guy. Berry was the pitching coach for the Golden Eagles and also guided Meridian CC to a pair of JUCO World Series appearances during a stint as head coach at the school.
	Berry was selected by Palmer to take over the Southern Miss program when he announced his retirement. Berry has spent five seasons as associate head coach, six seasons as pitching coach and has spent eight seasons overall at Southern Miss. Palmer said at the College World Series he believes Berry will have little trouble keeping the USM tradition going. Berry’s last stint as a head coach was at Meridian Community College from 1997-2000.
UNC Asheville
	OUT: Willie Stewart Willie Stewart resigned at UNCA at the end of May. Stewart led UNC Asheville to a 94-182 overall record during his five-year tenure. He guided the Bulldogs to a school-record 28 wins in ’06 when they captured the Big South Conference Tournament championship and advanced to an NCAA regional for the first time in school history. UNCA finished this past season with a 9-42 overall record were 10th in the Big South.	IN: Tom Smith Asheville tabbed Tom Smith as its new coach in July. Smith spent the last two seasons in the program as an assistant. Before that, though, he was one of the top high school coaches in the state or North Carolina.
	With baseball in the Carolinas improving a great deal the past few seasons, it only makes sense that UNC Asheville wants to be competitive in the Big South. Time will tell if the Bulldogs made a great hire that result in more wins. They selected Smith, who was a member of the previous coaching staff. Smith certainly put together an impressive resume in the high school ranks. We’ll see how that translates in the Big South.
Wake Forest
	OUT: Rick Rembielak Rembielak was cut loose after the Demon Deacons finished 22-30 and 6-24 in the ACC.	IN: Tom Walter Walter led New Orleans to back-to-back regional appearances in 2007 and 2008.
	Walter’s hire has received rave reviews throughout the college baseball community after guiding New Orleans to new heights. Despite Hurricane Katrina wreaking havoc on UNO and its baseball facility, Walter still managed to guide the program to a wealth of success. He has great knowledge of the region for recruiting purposes, too.
Washington
	OUT: Ken Knutson Knutson is the winningest coach in Washington history, but his long-time career with the Huskies comes to an end after finishing last season with a 25-30 record, 13-14 mark in the Pac-10. The Huskies also have failed to make an NCAA regional the past few seasons.	IN: Lindsay Meggs After an exhaustive search, the Huskies actually settled on a solid addition in Indiana State’s Lindsay Meggs. Meggs won a pair of national titles at Division II Chico State and earned Coach of the Year honors in the Missouri Valley last season by leading Indiana State to a wealth of success.
	The Huskies had a coaching search worthy of a daytime drama, but it finally ended with the addition of Lindsay Meggs to the program after San Diego’s Rich Hill and Virginia Tech’s Pete Hughes turned down the opening. Meggs brings an impressive resume to the table and was one of the rising coaches in the Midwest at Indiana State.