Rick Jones coaching tree the best place to look for Tulane baseball coach

Tulane baseball has enjoyed outstanding success over an extended period of time.

Claude “Little Monk” Simons Jr. had some success, posting a 92-68 record between 1938-1949 in two stints.

Ben Abadie had moderate success, going 70-62 from 1955-1966 in two different stints.

The real sustained success begin with my friend Milt Retif, who went 123-73 from 1967-74.

Then, another good friend in Joe Brockhoff came in and took the program to another level.

In 19 seasons, Brockhoff posted a 641-350-2 mark, including taking the Green Wave to seven NCAA tournaments.

Then came Rick Jones and the zenith of the program.

Jones guided the Green Wave to a 827-457 record in 21 seasons, including the first two and still only College World Series appearances in the history of Tulane baseball. Jones led Tulane to 12 NCAA tournaments.

David Pierce took over in 2015 and went 76-46 in two seasons including a pair of NCAA tournament appearances in 2015 and 2016.

The latter is the last time Tulane has reached the NCAA tournament.

The success under Brockhoff, Jones and Pierce has dissipated.

The end result of the former is that Travis Jewett is no longer running the program.

Jewett was relieved of his duties May 16, before the current season concluded after going 84-90 in six seasons.

Who runs the Tulane program next is the big question.

The bigger questions remain.

Can Tulane rediscover the magic of what it was under Rick Jones?

Perhaps the bigger question should be does Tulane want to be that kind of program, does it have the resources to be that kind of program and will it commit fully to being that kind of program?

Troy Dannen made the hire of Jewett.

While Jewett was an outside hire, so was Jones.

That said, it may be time to hire from within the Tulane family.

The best place to start is the coaching tree of Jones, which includes nine former Tulane coaches or players and three others in Major League Baseball.

The clear favorite is Jake Gautreau.

A former outstanding player at Tulane and Tulane Hall of Fame inductee, Gautreau has distinguished himself in significant fashion.

At one point, he served as Interim head coach at Tulane in 2014 when Jones had to take a leave of absence. In all, Gautreau spent five years as an assistant coach with the Green Wave.

Gautreau earned national assistant coach of the year in 2019.

He is an integral part of a staff which won a national championship in 2021 and has been part of three College World Series teams with the Bulldogs.

Gautreau has eight years under his belt as an assistant coach.

At Tulane as an assistant coach, Gautreau amassed the No. 4 class in the country, according to Perfect Game, in 2013.

At Tulane, Gautreau helped Jones win 142 games in three seasons and was a huge part of the Green Wave reaching the College World Series for the first time ever in 2001.

Gautreau played seven years professionally following his brilliant Tulane career, reaching Triple-A.

Additionally, Gautreau’s wife, Erin, is a former Tulane volleyball star.

The ties run deep.

Former Mississippi State head coach Andy Cannizaro, a Tulane Hall of Fame inductee, has seen his star fade in recent years after losing his job in Starkville and after not being renewed at Holy Cross High School most recently. Cannizaro was considered for the job when Jewett was hired.

Still, Cannizaro remains a very good coach and, like Gautreau, was a College World Series star for the Green Wave on the same team. While he likely would not be considered for the head coaching position and the possibility of returning to professional baseball in some capacity lingers, Cannizaro would be a consideration as an assistant coach.

Former Green Wave pitcher Brandon Belanger is in his fifth season on the staff at ULM, now serving as Director of Player Development after having served as an assistant coach previously.

Belanger started his coaching career under Jones at Tulane in 2002 and he is in the Tulane Athletic Hall of Fame.

Former Green Wave star Daniel Latham is on the current Tulane staff and, as such, is unlikely to get a look but Latham is respected. Latham did an excellent job at Southeastern Louisiana under Matt Riser previously and also served as the pitching coach at VMI.

As a player, Latham was the closer on the Tulane team in 2005 which was ranked No. 1 in the nation and reached the College World Series. Latham is a product of Covington High School.

Riser was considered for the Tulane job when Jewett was hired.

In nine years at Southeastern Louisiana, Riser has taken the Lions to three NCAA tournaments and has a shot at a fourth later this week in the Southland Conference championship series against McNeese State in Lake Charles.

Riser was part of the Tulane team in 2005 which reached the College World Series. He has been honored by the Tulane Athletic Hall of Fame as part of “The Katrina Class.”

Billy Mohl is in his fifth year as the head coach at South Florida, where he has taken the Bulls to a pair of NCAA tournaments.

Previously was an assistant at USF, Mohl also served as an assistant under former Tulane coach Mark Kingston at Illinois State. Of course, Mohl started off as an assistant under Jones at Tulane for three seasons.

Mohl was also part of the 2005 College World Series team at Tulane.

As for Kingston, he is the head coach at South Carolina in the top conference in the nation. Kingston was an assistant under Jones at Tulane from 2002-08.

The same is true of Jim Schlossnagle, the head coach at Texas A&M. Schlossnagle was the associate head coach under Jones at Tulane from 1994-2001.

Rob Cooper is the head coach at Penn State. He assisted Jones at Tulane in 1997 and 1998.

Jack Cressend is the CEO and founder of Knights Nation baseball, including the Louisiana Knights.

Cressend continues to serve as a national pitching cross-checker for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

A standout player for Jones from 1994-96 at Tulane, Cressend went on to pitch five seasons in Major League Baseball after starring at Mandeville High.

Cressend is also a former assistant coach at Tulane and has vast recruiting connections.

While they would never be considered candidates for the Tulane coaching job, it is notable that former Tulane walk-on Andrew Friedman is the President of Baseball Operations for the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Brandon Gomes pitched for Jones at Tulane between 2003-07 and was an integral part of the College World Series team in 2007.

Gomes is now the General Manager of the Dodgers.

The tree of Jones is beyond impressive.

Aside from the Jones coaching tree, another former Tulane player and graduate is always worthy of consideration in Delgado head coach Joe Scheuermann, who has taken the Dolphins to four NJCAA World Series appearances while amassing NJCAA Hall of Fame honors and nearly 1,100 victories. Scheuermann played for Brockhoff and coached under him with the Green Wave as well.

Among those with no ties to Tulane who are worth a look is McNeese State coach Justin Hill, who has his team in the Southland Conference tournament final. Hill took his Cowboys to regionals in both 2019 and 2021. The West Monroe native played at Bossier Parish and LSU and coached at West Monroe, Northwestern State, LSU, Sam Houston, Southeastern Louisiana and ULM before taking over at McNeese State in 2014.

Speaking on All Access Monday evening on NASH ICON 106.1 FM with me, Jones said he was not shocked to see Dannen make a coaching change in-season.

“That’s a tough question for me to answer because in our business, nothing surprises me anymore,” Jones said. “Travis and I had a really good relationship. He’s a very nice person. At the same time, I understand. I don’t know all the ins and outs and don’t pretend to. It’s just our business.”

Can Tulane, where tuition runs high, return to being an elite national level program which it once was under Jones?

“If the NCAA changes the limit of scholarships, if they take that away and all of the sudden you can start offering full scholarships, whether it be 20, 25, whatever, then all of the sudden, you’re in the ballpark to get it done,” Jones said. “You look at the 11.7 scholarships allowed now. Half that money goes to pitchers and those guys play one game out of four tries.”

Compared to other NCAA men’s sports, baseball gets the short end of the stick.

“When you look at the other sports and the full scholarships they have, we don’t offer, we negotiate,” Jones said. “I had guys leave my program because they just could not afford it anymore. That’s not fair. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the NCAA will make a change. If that happens, there’s no question in my mind that Tulane can be a force. The only thing we had working against us was the cost of going to school there and not having the financial aid that some other private schools had.”

Jones said he has spoken with Dannen about the vacant head coaching position at Tulane.

“Selfishly, I would love to see one of my guys there,” Jones said. “I really would but I wasn’t one of those guys. I was at Georgia Tech and Kevin White hired me. You’ve got to get the right guy. I’m not going to sit here and tell you that Troy should hire this guy or that guy. Troy has talked to me and has been very accommodating to me. I really appreciate that. If it’s one of my guys, I certainly would be excited but that’s not my call.”

Jones admires and would be very happy if any of his former coaches or players ends up as the head coach at Tulane. He reserved strong words in endorsing Gautreau, considered a favorite for the job.

“There is a reason he was my captain as a sophomore and Matt Riser was my captain after Katrina,” Jones said. “There’s no question in my mind that Jake Gautreau is going to be one of the great head coaches in the future. Whether it’s at Tulane or not, I don’t know. There is no doubt in my mind about that. His work ethic is special. David Pearce and I are good friends and I respect what he did there. Jake Gautreau, as recruiting coordinator, put that club together.”

Jones feels Gautreau checks all of the boxes.

“He is an outstanding recruiter, an outstanding coach and a leader and respected by all,” Jones said. “I have no doubt about what he will be able to do as a head coach, no doubt. You’ve got to win. Hiring someone local and with ties will help with putting people in the seats. He understands what the challenges are and is familiar with the fan base. We had a lot of people in the seats, as you know. That’s something that can happen again.”

In the end, regardless of who the new Green Wave coach is, Jones has one wish.

“I love Tulane and love New Orleans and simply want to see the Green Wave return to being a great baseball program,” Jones said.

Don’t be surprised if when the process for a new coach ends and lands on someone that the leaf did not fall far from the tree of green left by the best baseball coach in Green Wave history.