Dan McDonnell on Future at Louisville: 'I want to be at a place that's committed'
LOUISVILLE, Ky. - The Louisville baseball program's tumultuous 2023 season came to an end on Saturday. It's very possible that it could have been the last campaign for their skipper.
Following the Cardinals' 6-2 loss to Florida State that eliminated them from participating in next week's ACC Baseball Championship, head coach Dan McDonnell was asked if he expected to be back in the dugout for Louisville. While he said he "always expected to be here," he didn't rule out possibly leaving for another school.
"I always expect to be here, but I'm not going to shy away. ... I'm not going to get into it now, but I've been very vocal and challenging over the last 12 months," he said Saturday. "Just look at the writing on the wall. Look at where this program has been, and you walk around. You walk through the dugouts, you walk under the stadium, you see what differently have we done since 2000-Whatever.
"We want to be here. We love it here. But again, I want to work for people and be with people - and in a group - that want to win as well. Don't tell me you want to win, show me you want to win. That's all I ask for."
McDonnell's comments appear to be a veiled shot at the Louisville administration and their efforts towards improving and advancing the baseball program and its facilities. While Louisville recently made improvements to the front entrance of Jim Patterson Stadium, that pales in comparison to renovations that many places in the ACC - namely the stadiums for Boston College, Virginia Tech and Clemson - have undergone over the past five years.
Efforts to build a new state-of-the-art indoor practice facility, which was first announced at the 2020 iteration of the program's annual Lead-off Dinner, have also stalled. Louisville secured a $3 million donation towards building the facility in 2021, but ground has yet to be broken.
McDonnell's comments suggest that he believes the Louisville athletic department and athletic director Josh Heird are not fully committed to the baseball program.
"I've been recruiting these kids, they've been committed since their eighth, ninth, 10th grade year," he said. "Well, they showed up on campus, they haven't seen a whole lot different. They said it was gonna be different, we promised them it would be different, but it's not different.
"As my phrase was at the leadoff banquet, are you interested or are you committed? I want to be at a place that's committed, when it's all said and done. Because the kids we recruited to be at a place that's committed. Ultimately, we're trying to get to Omaha and win a national championship. It ain't gonna happen unless we make a full commitment."
Despite the clear messaging Saturday and in recent months regarding the desire for Louisville to be competitive in the facilities arms race, McDonnell took full responsibility for the Cardinals’ shortcomings this season.
“I apologized to them in the outfield (following the FSU loss),” he said. “I wish I could have done a better job. I couldn't get it to come together. I can say I'm probably guilty of over coaching, over motivating or whatever. But it always starts with me.”
Should McDonnell leave the Cardinals, he wouldn't being short of potential suitors. As one of the most successful active coaches in college baseball, his name had been tied to numerous job searches during his tenure, including recent attempts by Mississippi State in 2019 and LSU in 2021 to poach him from the Cardinals.
One job in particular has arisen during this coaching carousel. Following the firing of Alabama head coach Brad Bohannon earlier this month, both Baseball America and D1Baseball listed McDonnell as a candidate to watch.
McDonnell possesses one of the most lucrative contracts in all of college baseball. He signed a ten-year, $1 million contract back in 2016, and after the flirtation with Mississippi State in 2019, signed a rolling seven-year contract that will reach $1.5 million by 2028.
Despite a 2023 campaign that saw that Cardinals go 31-24 and miss out the NCAA Tournament for the second time in three years, McDonnell has been one of the most successful coaches in college baseball during his 17 years as the skipper of the Cardinals. He sports an overall record of 710-306-1 and .699 win percentage since his hiring in 2007, has five appearances in the College World Series, and is a two-time National Coach of the Year.
(Photo of Dan McDonnell: Steven Branscombe - USA TODAY Sports)
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