Mike Bianco, looking back, explains his reasons for speaking with LSU

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OXFORD | Mike Bianco says he hasn’t thought about the LSU coaching position since speaking to the Tigers about the job back in June, but he understands any frustration fans feel about his name being in the search.

Bianco, who enters his 22nd season as Ole Miss head coach in February, met with LSU athletics director Scott Woodward about the job that Paul Mainieri left following the season. Bianco, who played two seasons at LSU and coached under Skip Bertman from 1993-1997, announced he was staying as Ole Miss' head coach on June 20, and the Tigers hired Arizona head coach Jay Johnson several days later.

Bianco, in an exclusive with RebelGrove.com, said his history with LSU, as well as his wife, Camie’s history with the school, caused them to listen to leadership in Baton Rouge. Their son, Drew, plays for the Tigers, though Bianco has consistently said he never intends to coach any of his children.

Bianco said he stayed in contact with Ole Miss athletics director Keith Carter throughout the process, and Carter also said the same to RebelGrove.com, with Carter saying he knew about the interview and supported Bianco’s unorthodox decision to meet with Woodward.

“For two decades, I’ve never spoken with another school despite multiple opportunities,” Bianco said. “Camie and I have poured our hearts into this program, university and community. We love it here. When LSU reached out, Camie and I were extremely conflicted. Ole Miss and Oxford are home, it’s where we’ve built a career and raised our family. Ole Miss has been so good to us and we’ve invested blood, sweat and tears into this program.

“At the same time, Camie and I both went to LSU, it’s where our lives together started, it’s where my coaching career started, working for one of the most influential men in my life – Skip Bertman.

“At the end of the day, we decided to have an initial conversation with LSU. For the first time in 21 years at Ole Miss, I had a conversation with another school. That happened, we took some time as a family to reflect on everything in front of us… As a family, we decided Ole Miss is where we want to be and we couldn’t be happier with that decision. We closed that chapter and I haven’t thought about it since that day.”

Bianco’s tenure in Oxford is a complicated one. He took a program that had been to two NCAA Tournaments in the two decades before his arrival to the national conversation, an era that includes 17 NCAA Tournament berths, seven NCAA super regionals and nine regional hosts, including three straight. He’s the winningest coach in program history and the third winningest SEC coach behind Ron Polk and Bertman.

But fan frustration has been at high levels at different times of his tenure because of a lack of College World Series berths and the postseason success of rival SEC Western Division programs. The Rebels finished third nationally in Omaha in 2014 but are 1-8 under Bianco in games to reach the College World Series — falling in the deciding game in each of the last two postseasons.

Arizona, and ironically, Johnson, eliminated the Rebels in game three of the Tucson Super Regional the week prior to the meat of the LSU coaching search. East Carolina head coach and former Ole Miss assistant Cliff Godwin also interviewed for the position.

“Our fan base is as passionate as any in the country, that’s part of what makes this job so great,” Bianco said. “I understand that with that passion can come some frustration that I would even speak with another school. But I hope anyone who feels that way will reflect on the situation and understand it for what it was – a conversation with our alma mater, time spent reflecting with my family and a decision that Ole Miss is exactly where we want to be… I would never do anything I thought would hurt this program or the people that support us.

“The point of having the conversation was simply to get to know the current leadership down there and what all has changed in the more than 25 years since we were there. That happened, I was in regular communication with Keith through that process, we discussed it as a family and made our decision. I hope my track record of speaking to one school in 21 years helps anyone with concerns about my loyalty to Ole Miss.”

Ole Miss sent out statements from Carter and Bianco on June 20, confirming that Bianco would remain in Oxford as head coach and his contract would be extended to the state maximum four years. Carter didn’t extend Bianco’s contract following the 2019 season but did extend it after the pandemic-shortened 2020 season.

The release to the media included Bianco and Carter speaking of a “new level of success” and “new heights” for the program, respectively. Bianco finished the 2021 season as one of the top-five paid coaches in college baseball with an annual salary of approximately $1.2 million.

Bianco sent his players a message on June 20 to tell them he was still their coach and to thank them for their patience and acknowledge the difficult week. Bianco told RebelGrove.com there was a “healthy dialogue” within the program during the week his name was connected to the search.

“No one has higher expectations of this program than me,” Bianco said. “And I say that recognizing that our fans have incredibly high expectations. That’s part of what makes this job so tremendous and I embrace those expectations. With a lot of support from the University and our fans, we’ve built a championship program in Oxford. I’m very proud of how far we’ve come but also hungry to take it even further.

"The last two full seasons we’ve finished one game away from Omaha. It’s not what we wanted but it’s also not a failure by any stretch of the imagination. We came up one game short. You can either use that as motivation moving forward or fold up your tent and go home. I choose the former and am excited about what lies ahead for Ole Miss baseball.”

Bianco said multiple times and Carter said following that week that some of the information on the Internet was inaccurate, and he disagreed with the presented timeline of how the week played out in some media reports.

Bianco said, looking back, he doesn’t have regrets but he wants the fans to know he didn’t abandon his job while in contact with LSU.

“In almost every industry, people evaluate their careers with their families behind closed doors and make the decision that is best for them,” Bianco said. “That’s not the case in collegiate athletics and I get that.

“I think people assume that during those times the only thing you are focused on is the other opportunity. That wasn’t the case at all. I was focused on my job here, making sure our players were set for summer ball or wherever they were transitioning after our season. I was focused on my family and our own kids transitioning after their seasons.

“Lumped in with all of that was us sitting down as a family to discuss where we were… Once we had all the information we felt we needed, we sat down and made the best decision for our family – to continue building this program right here at home.”