Rippee Writes: Bianco will return for 22nd season
A program at a crossroads, a wild U.S. Open and another Mississippian headed to the PGA Tour
A happy Monday to you all. Collin and I will have a baseball-centric podcast out tomorrow, so be on the lookout for that. We've got a ton to cover today with the Mike Bianco news breaking last night, a wild U.S. Open and more. Let's go.
Ole Miss announces extension with Bianco
In a Sunday night news dump of sorts, Ole Miss announced a contract extension for Mike Bianco, essentially putting a public-facing end to his candidacy for the head coaching job at LSU. It's been a bizarre week as the Rebels’ head man explored the idea of moving on from a program he spent two decades building from the ground up, and heading back to his alma mater with the hopes of delivering them a national title. To what extent Bianco considered taking the job and whether it was formally offered to him is unknown. Formal offers can be semantical and murky in nature. We all think it was his job to take if he really wanted it, and the reporting that has surfaced seems to suggest that being the case, but who really knows?
That's the source of the rub from all Ole Miss-related parties, right? Bianco single-handedly kept a shroud of mystery surrounding his candidacy for this job by refusing to give any inkling of what he was thinking to anyone, players and staff included. Bianco's silence allowed the story to grow legs and the speculation to run rampant as Baton Rouge outlets painted him as the man at the center of LSU's sights. Couple that with the fact that it made every bit of logical sense to move on from a personal career move standpoint -- a reset, a pay raise, a return to his alma mater and a perfect departure from a place at which he may very well have reached his ceiling -- and it eventually led to most people forming the opinion he was leaving unless LSU decided not to give him the job, which translates to Ole Miss being the second choice, and no one in any aspect of life enjoys being the second choice. Whether that last part (regarding LSU not offering) is true or not, we might not ever know, but it doesn't change the fact that most believed it to be the case and it doesn't exactly leave anyone thrilled at his decision to return. Public opinion often matters more when facts are scarce.
Hindsight is 20/20 and we can armchair quarterback this thing all day long, much like his decision making during games. These situations are difficult to navigate, and when you're the one being courted, it's hard to look totally favorable to your current employer beyond explicitly stating from the start that you have no interest in the job. But I cannot help but wonder how the news of his return might be received differently had his subtle messaging been a little more savvy throughout the process. He could've started by informing anyone, literally anyone, of his thoughts on the matter. Next, he could have quietly gotten the message out of "hey, it's LSU. It's a special place to me. I am always going to pick up when Skip Bertman calls. I am really happy at Ole Miss and don't have much of an inkling to leave, but I would be doing myself and my family a disservice not to at least ponder the idea." Something remotely close to that, even if it isn’t officially reported, would have sufficed. Even if that message isn't entirely true -- and there's evidence to suggest it isn't -- it's a much more palatable message for the fan base, administration and his players and staff to digest. Reasonable messages resonate with reasonable people.
Instead, he let a Baton Rouge-based reporter break the news on the internet that he met LSU AD Scott Woodward in Birmingham for an in-person interview, along with the other perceived finalist for the job. That's crappy media relations (from Bianco's personal standpoint) at best, and a middle finger to your current employer at worst, depending on how it's perceived.
Speaking of perception, this entire ordeal doesn't seem to have fazed Bianco's boss, at least not from a public-facing view. Keith Carter extended Bianco and each put out statements last night. In Carter's statement, he said that he and Bianco were able to "privately separate fact from fiction," and remained in constant contact throughout. I am not entirely sure what Carter is alluding to. His guy interviewed for a rival SEC West job in person. Clearly the interest was mutual, but it doesn't seem like it deterred Carter from rolling back Bianco to the maximum four-year contract allowed by state laws. In a vacuum, extending Bianco makes sense. He's gotten a game away from Omaha, in back-to-back seasons and has the program operating as consistently as any in the sport. But, of course, this decision cannot be judged in a vacuum. Carter didn't extend Bianco in 2019 after the Rebels made it equally as far as they did in 2021. What's different now? Well, a lot, and we don't have to get into all of that right now, but I think extending him -- from purely a performance standpoint -- was the right move in both 2019 and 2021 despite Carter electing against it in 2019.
But of course, on-field performance is only part of this equation and that part itself must be discussed with nuance. How do you positively paint the "our coach, that can’t consistently win the big one, interviewed for a rival job, ended up back here and we gave him an extension," picture in a positive light? Maybe Carter is a realist and doesn't care about the optics. LSU is a better job than Ole Miss. Bianco has personal ties to it. If he elected to stay, why not extend the guy that's gotten you to back-to-back super regionals? Due to me not being able to think of an articulate analogy, let's just look at this from a business perspective: A CEO has an employee that isn't perfect, and the CEO and others in the company have some reasonable gripes with, but generally does a pretty damn good job in an important role. If another company swoops in and throws a lot of money at said employee to come work for them, the CEO likely isn't going to match that raise and beg the employee to stay. But the CEO would also be fine with having him if he decided to stick around. And in this particular scenario, the CEO can justly set lofty expectations for the next year and fire the employee and upgrade if they aren't met. If Carter truly doesn't care about the optics, then there wasn't really a wrong move for him to make. Optics do matter, but in this case, if it's Omaha or bust (and by bust, I mean coaching change) in 2022 or something close to that, will any of this really matter 365 days from now?
Lastly, there's the Bianco angle to this. I don't understand this move from a personal career decision standpoint, but I am not Mike Bianco. I don't know what he values nor do I know what is best for him and his family. From a professional standpoint, he's put himself in quite a bizarre corner. From the eyes of his fanbase, he just flirted with a bitter rival for a week, on the heels of a season that, fair or unfair, added to the narrative that his program is going stale and that he's reached a ceiling barrier he cannot break through. That's not exactly a recipe for a warm 'welcome back' reception. Expectations will be sky high in 2022. Bianco needs to make it to a super regional at minimum and, ideally, the College World Series, in order to quell a seat that will become increasingly hotter by the loss. He has to replace a pair of dynamic rotation arms and find more bullpen depth. That's one hell of a gamble on yourself. I don't know for certain what will determine success or failure for Bianco in 2022 in terms of his job security, what I do know is that the margin for error is slim and a down year that falls beneath reasonable expectations will not bode well for him.
It's all puzzling when you consider his aforementioned other option of a pay raise, a longer leash and all of that. But just how real was that other option and how enticing was it to the man at the center of all of this? We may never know. No one seemed to know what Bianco thought throughout all of this and it is precisely why this unfolded in the bizarre fashion that it did. His unwillingness to be more publicly (and privately in some senses) transparent helped foster the bizarre circumstances he'll inherit in a 2022 season that, for better or worse, will be an immensely consequential one as it pertains to the past, present and future of Ole Miss Baseball.
NEW DEAL: Greg has switched up the Rippee Writes perks menu. For being a loyal subscriber, show him proof of subscription and you’ll get a 16 oz. prime strip for $15 and a pack of sausage for $5. That’s a hell of a dinner on the grill for 20 bucks. Go check him out, it’s the best place in Mississippi to get meat and Oxford is lucky to have it.
Rahm Wins 2021 U.S. Open
This U.S. Open was one for the ages as a leaderboard of thoroughbreds faltered down the stretch. Well, except one. John Rahm ascended as others crumbled around him. The 26-year-old Spaniard drained two insanely clutch putts to birdie his final two holes and capture his first major championship by a shot. One-by-one the men fell around him. Bryson's back nine 44, Koepka bogeying two of his final three holes, Morikowa's implosion on the 13th green, Rory firing a 39 on the final nine, and of course, Louis Oosthuizen's pulled tee shot on 17.
To me, despite the criticism of Torrey Pines being bland, this was a perfect U.S. Open. It featured the best players in the world being in the mix on Sunday and the one that rose to the top amid a sea of carnage was awarded the trophy. Of the top 13 finishers at this tournament, Rahm was the only player other than Branden Grace not to record a bogey on his final nine holes. He withstood golf's hardest test and authored a pretty neat story in the process. Just two weeks ago, Rahm held a six shot lead at the Memorial Tournament after three rounds and was forced to withdraw due to a positive COVID test. This was his first event back since. Often known to be a hot head that borders on being a whiner, Rahm couldn't have handled the situation more gracefully.
"The power of positive thinking," he said when reflecting back on the last 14 days of his life as he gripped his newborn son and hugged his wife. We can all learn a lesson from that.
This was five years in the making for this young star and surely won't be the last time he's the last man standing on golf's largest stage.
I hope you cashed in on SkyBox’s U.S. Open card up. They’ve got more promos are on the way. Go check these guys out. They have a picks package for your preferred sport that will fit your price range. Use the promo code “Rippee” for 20 percent off any purchase. You’re wasting free money if you don’t.
Ramey PGA Tour bound
Tupelo area native Chad Ramey is headed to the PGA Tour. Ramey finished T-14 at the Korn Ferry Tour's Wichita stop over the weekend. The finish and accompanying points pushed Ramey past the fail-safe threshold, guaranteeing that he finishes the season inside the top 25 that graduate to the PGA Tour. Ramey has put together an insanely consistent 18 month stretch of golf in this unprecedented wraparound season caused by the pandemic. In 35 starts, he missed just three cuts and made 32 of his last 34 cuts. He finished in the top 25 or better 25 times. Ramey had eight top 10 finishes, two 2nd places and two 3rd place marks. The fact that he locked up PGA Tour status without a win, on this tour, is a remarkable feat. His results became almost machine-like, and a guy that rarely gets much publicity realized a lifelong dream.
Ramey is the second Mississippian to lock up PGA Tour status next season along with Hattiesburg's Davis Riley. Hayden Buckley and Braden Thornberry are each in the mix to follow suit. Here's to hoping they both accomplish that, but at minimum, the Magnolia State will have two PGA Tour players next season.
On the horizon:
- pod tonight with Collin Brister
- Week of newsletters on baseball, golf and whatever else arises.
That's all from me today. Thanks for being a loyal subscriber. Send to your friends and tell them to join in on the fun by subscribing. Back with more tomorrow.