Parham: Here are a few suggestions for Mike Bianco and Ole Miss baseball

My baseball qualifications don't include any sort of college coaching experience, but that doesn't mean I don't have a few suggestions for Mike Bianco, as he looks to strengthen his coaching staff this offseason.

Bianco, as this site first reported on Thursday, is expected add a new member to his on-field staff following the Rebels' 27-29 season that included an 11-19 finish in the SEC. Ole Miss was under .500 overall and absent from the NCAA Tournament for the second straight season following the national title in 2022.

My coaching background mostly consists of leading 9-to-14-year-olds -- the environments where you routinely hear parents yell solid baseball instruction such as "head down and drive" and "keep your back shoulder up." I did win some league titles, though.

Also, I've been around Bianco's program for 20 years come next spring, so consider these hand-raise-guy thoughts with this very important reorganization underway.

This is an obvious one, but the hire has to be a pitching coach -- which it will be unless all the gossip and sourcing is wrong, and it's not wrong.

In today's world of portal and analytics, Ole Miss' staff structure wasn't optimized with Carl Lafferty and Bianco sharing pitching coach duties during the week, Lafferty serving as recruiting coordinator and Bianco doing all the hands-on pitching management on game days.

Analytics and transfer portal activity have changed the game, and there's not a chapter about that in Skip Bertman's book or with anyone's experience prior to a few years ago. Adapting to that is paramount. It's what has separated programs, as development, evaluation and recruiting are all different.

Mike Clement is the hitting coach. Let Lafferty focus on recruiting and have a bench coach role. Hire a pitching coach to oversee that part of the team, and then Bianco can manage the program. Make it more of an MLB or football-type structure.

Sources say Bianco is looking for someone with college and professional experience, and that's optimal. The games are different, but it's important to mesh them together with what to do and how to do it on the mound.

Perception is critical right now. The fanbase is frustrated, angry or maybe apathetic, and this move needs to be convincing that it's a legitimate change and not a figurehead role. Once the hire is made, the new coach needs to do interviews and podcasts. Let the fans hear from him and what's in store.

Also, don't hire anyone with ties to the program. Whether that's fair or not, right or wrong, there would be a skepticism with it that would be nearly impossible to overcome.

Bianco needs to hand over all pitching coach responsibilities to this person, and that includes at least mound visits that aren't pulling a pitcher and all pitch calling during the games. It's the correct move, but it's also a tangible way to show the fans things are different and this other coach is in charge of this area.

Turning over the pitching side of things is part of the plan, per sources. Bianco has been the pitching coach for Team USA. He has value in this area, but it's time for it to supplement someone else's plan. It's possible Ole Miss' issues defensively can be somewhat attributed to the way the staff's duties are organized.

I'm not one to tell people how to spend his or her money, but I believe this one, so I'm including it. Bianco needs to help supplement the new coach's contract so salary and contract length aren't detriments in the search.

Finances are a volatile, key part of college athletics right now, and Bianco's contract, which has four years remaining at $1.625 million annually has been a talking point and a sticking point the past weeks. This next season is obviously a key one for the future of Bianco's tenure, and Lafferty and Clement will coach on the final year of their contracts.

That environment isn't conducive for bringing in a top-tier new hire, so Ole Miss needs to give the new coach a two-year agreement for security. Bianco, and I get it's not my money with me saying this, should guarantee the second year out of his own buyout.

If Ole Miss wins and this staff keeps chugging along after 2025, then Ole Miss just pays the pitching coach, and the budget remains as is. If the Rebels falter next season, and that's that's it for this staff, the pitching coach's second year could come out of the $3.9 million Bianco would be owed if he were let go following 2025.

I have no idea at the feasibility or willingness of this, but Ole Miss clearly doesn't need to or want to increase the budget from the athletics department side, and Bianco needs a new coach and needs a multi-year contract to get a good one.

This one is obvious and is happening but move fast. The portal waits for no one, and Ole Miss needs to sell this new person to current players, signees and potential incoming transfers. Then, everyone needs to get to work, improving the pitching staff both with mental improvement and physical optimization.

The SEC has never been harder. Five of the top seven national seeds are from the league including the top three overall seeds. Eleven of 14 teams made a regional. The only answer is maximum efficiency.

Bianco appears ready to try something new. It's not a guarantee to work, but it's a considerable step in self-analysis and seeing this new era of college baseball.

This will be about wins and losses, and some of these directly relate to that. And some of them are about handling things along the way. Those matter, too, especially with a program that should be better than it currently is.

Bianco has a tough job ahead. He made a good first decision. Now it's about executing it and sticking with it.