Who will replace Chris Lemonis at Mississippi State?

The Bulldogs' baseball program is widely considered a premier program and will attract some of the biggest names in college baseball. So, who will get the job?

Mississippi State Bulldogs Head Coach Chris Lemonis storms the field to yell at the umpires after he is tossed from the game against the Memphis Tigers at AutoZone Park on Tuesday, March 29, 2022. | Joe Rondone/The Commercial Appeal / USA TODAY NETWORK

Mississippi State has played 135 college baseball seasons and has won 2,853 games. That’s the 12th most wins in the history of college baseball. But the Bulldogs have just one national championship in their history.

And they fired the coach that led Mississippi State to its only national championship on Monday. The school announced that Chris Lemonis “has been relieved of his duties” (aka, he was fired) and a “national search to identify the program's next head coach is underway.”

Mississippi State considers itself (rightly so) as one of the premier college baseball programs in the country. It really is an attractive job. The Bulldogs play in the nation’s strongest conference, have the third-most wins amongst SEC teams, is in one of the south’s best college towns, and has a very passionate fanbase.

But the expectations are high. Lemonis only got three years after winning the 2021 national championship and won 232 games in seven seasons.

Whoever athletic director Zac Selmon hires will know what the expectations are and there are a lot of candidates that could do the job. Here’s our official candidates list to replace Lemonis, separated into different tiers.

SEC Candidates

Want to make a big splash hire? Do what Texas did last year and hire your rival’s coach. But there’s probably no offer Mississippi State could make to get Mike Bianco away from Ole Miss (no, Southern Miss doesn’t qualify, but its coach is included later on). So, do the next-best thing, hire a current SEC head coach.

The head coaches at Texas, Texas A&M, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Florida, LSU and Tennessee are likely untouchable (even if some fans on social media think Tony Vitello at Tennessee would come to Starkville).

I think you might want to temper your expectations .... https://t.co/turXtjogCO

— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogers) April 28, 2025

Kentucky Wildcats head coach Nick Mingione during the fourth inning against the Oregon State Beavers at Kentucky Proud Park. | Jordan Prather-Imagn Images

Nick Mingione, Kentucky

Career Record: 287-181
Mississippi State connection: Assistant Coach, 2008

Skip Johnson, Oklahoma

Career Record: 259-164
Mississippi State connection: None, but Mississippi State’s current athletic director was at Oklahoma before coming to Starkville.

Butch Thompson, Auburn

Career Record: 310-224-1
Mississippi State connection: Assistant Coach, 2009-2015

Wes Johnson, Georgia

Career Record: 68-19
Mississippi State connection: Assistant Coach, 2016

Rob Vaughn, Alabama

Career Record: 250-159
Mississippi State connection: None.

Power 4 Head Coach Candidates

The SEC reigns supreme, but there are teams in other conferences that are pretty good. The coaches of those teams warrant consideration. Especially the one who has a realistic win 50 games in his first season as a head coach (he’s listed first below). The problem with these coaches is they have usually spent several years at the school (either as an assistant or head coach) and develop a strong bond that is hard to break.

Steve Sabins, West Virginia

Career Record: 35-5
Mississippi State connection: None.

Chris Pollard, Duke

Career Record: 793-606-2
Mississippi State connection: Holds a master’s degree from Mississippi State.

Mark Wasikowski, Oregon

Career Record: 279-184
Mississippi State connection: None.

Dan Fitzgerald, Kansas

Career Record: 332-134
Mississippi State connection: None.

Mid-Major Candidates

Head coaches making the leap from a lower-tier conference to a Power 4 conference team is a gamble. Sometimes coaches can recreate what they did at a smaller school at a larger school. Sometimes they can’t. But it’s an interesting idea right now, because there are some seriously good candidates.

Dallas Baptist Patriots head coach Dan Heefner (right) shakes hands with California Golden Bears head coach David Esquer (left) after game one of the super regional of the 2011 NCAA baseball tournament at the Stephen Schott Stadium. The Bears defeated the Patriots 7-0. | Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Dan Heefner, Dallas Baptist

Career Record: 664-330-1
Mississippi State connection: None

Skylar Meade, Troy

Career Record: 138-80
Mississippi State connection: None.

Lane Burroughs, Louisiana Tech

Career Record: 417-290
Mississippi State connection: Assistant Coach, 2009-2012

Patrick Hallmark, UTSA

Career Record: 221-148
Mississippi State connection: None.

Christian Ostrander, Southern Miss

Career Record: 74-33
Mississippi State connection: None, but does have significant experience in Mississippi and is a Delta State alumnus.

Marc Rardin, Western Kentucky

Career Record: 1,003-300 (69-48 Div. I)
Mississippi State connection: None

Power 4 Assistant Coach Candidates

If Mississippi State considers itself a “blue blood” college baseball program, then handing over the keys to someone with no head coaching experience seems very unlikely. But maybe the Bulldogs can find a diamond in the rough? Here are some candidates to be that diamond:

Will Coggin, Georgia

Mississippi State connection: Played at Mississippi State, 2007-2008

Max Weiner, Texas

Mississippi State connection: None

Nick Schnabel, Clemson

Mississippi State connection: None

Josh Evander, Tennessee

Mississippi State connection: None

Nolan Cain, Texas

Mississippi State connection: None

In-House Candidate

In almost every coaching change, the interim coach is usually a candidate for the fulltime job and that will be true for Mississippi State.

Justin Parker, Mississippi State Interim Head Coach

Career Record: n/a
Mississippi State connection. Assistant Coach, 2024-present