Rob Walton a hot commodity

[Old Titan]

Former ORU head Coach Rob Walton's performance in returning OSU to the College World Series has not gone unnoticed:

Texas has made a HUGE mistake not locking up Rob when they had a chance a few weeks ago, opting instead to chase after the head coaches at Virginia, Florida, UCLA and Oregon State, trying to get a "name" coach. 

Instead, all they've managed to do is get those guys raises and contract extensions.  Now, the Horns are talking to alums who are coaching at Houston and Tulane, respectively.  Not exactly "names", but they have the bovine pedigree.

With all the pitching talent in Texas, Rob would have UT back to powerhouse status in no time.  Harder to do at Missouri perhaps, but he would have the advantage of luring the best talent in Big Ten country to play in the warmer climes and 10,000 seat stadiums of the SEC. 

Wherever he goes (and, now that youngest son Donnie is finished at OSU, he will likely bolt Stillwater), I have no doubt he will be successful.  He's a GREAT coach, in every sense of the word.

[ORUalum]

from the guy that covers Longhorn baseball for the Austin paper...sounds like Texas pursued Holliday, not Walton

 

[ORUJason]

I do not know how seriously Rob Walton was considered for the Missouri job.  However, Missouri ended up hiring Steve Beiser, the head coach of Southeast Missouri.  He was a former major league player but I can't imagine that his resume is nearly as impressive as Rob Walton's.  Seems like a strange choice.  Supposedly Missouri's facilities are in need of some upgrades but I imagine if the job had been offered to Rob he would have taken it.

[Bogus Smith]

I don't think Mizzou wanted to afford Rob.  I have to believe that Beiser was making less than $100K at SEMO and, in the mindset of Moneyball, was much more valuable to Mizzou.