Return to Clemson a full-circle moment for new head baseball coach Erik Bakich
When Graham Neff began searching for Clemson’s new head baseball coach, he wanted to target someone who demonstrated success at a big-time program. He wanted someone who has a great reputation as a recruiter and as a developer of players. He wanted a coach with integrity that will invest into the Clemson community and connect with the proud lineage and tradition of Clemson baseball.
Clemson’s athletic director did not have to go too far to find his guy — former Michigan head coach Erik Bakich. Neff formally introduced Bakich as Clemson’s 29th head baseball coach Thursday at Doug Kingsmore Stadium.
“We feel like we did not have to comprise all of that, and it all fell into place with coach Bakich,” Neff said. “We got an absolute superstar with Erik.”
Bakich led the Wolverines to the finals of 2019 College World Series and a Big Ten Tournament championship this past season. He had a 328-216 record in his 10 seasons at Michigan.
But what drew Clemson even more to Bakich was his eagerness to want to be the next Clemson coach, a job he has coveted since he was a young volunteer coach under Jack Leggett back in 2002.
“He made it very clear he wanted this job right away,” Neff said. “He wanted to be the head coach at Clemson. That made it very inspiring for his desire to be here, and therefore our pursuit of him matched that.”
The last time Bakich coached at Clemson was in 2002, when he was 24 years old, living in a $200 apartment with no air conditioning and being paid with energy bars.
He did not make enough money to have cable television, instead opting to go to the old $2 movie theater downtown for entertainment. But none of those things mattered. Clemson had an effect on him, and there was always a part of him that wanted to come back.
“I have always put Clemson up on a pedestal,” Bakich said. “I am very grateful for the opportunity I had here. I feel like I would not be here today without that opportunity 20 years ago. So it was a combination about how I feel about Clemson University and Clemson baseball, in addition to Graham’s leadership and vision for the program and the connection we had instantly.”
After his brief stint at Clemson, Bakich worked under Tim Corbin, who is also a former Leggett assistant, for 10 seasons 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.
Bakich is now hoping to turn things around at Clemson, where the program has failed to make the NCAA tournament the last two seasons. Prior to that, the program made the NCAA tournament every year, with the exception of 2008, from 1987-2019.
Clemson has advanced to the College World Series 12 times and played in nine super regionals. Bakich sees no reason why he cannot turn Clemson into a national championship program.
“It is inspiring to see how Coach [Dabo] Swinney and the Clemson football program have helped turn the Tiger Paw logo into a globally recognizable brand, as they have experienced the pinnacle of college football,” Bakich said. “It was also great to see coach [Mike Noonan] and the soccer team win a national championship last season, as well as see Coach [John] Rittman and the softball program’s ascension in such a short time.
“Clemson baseball will have the highest goals and expectations.”
This story was originally published June 16, 2022 at 7:33 PM.