Matthew LeCroy - Clemson Baseball Coaching Candidates

Matthew LeCroy (unrelated to Bradley), 39, was an All-American at Clemson. Matthew won the 1995 ACC Rookie of the Year award and played on two College World Series teams at Clemson. While a student athlete, he also competed in the 1996 Olympics hosted in Atlanta and helped America win the bronze metal (this was pre-World Baseball Classic).

After his days in Clemson, he was drafted as a catcher by the Minnesota Twins 50th overall. His career year came in 2003 when he hit 17 home runs while batting .287 with a .342 OBP in 107 games (345 ABs). He split time across catcher, first base, and DH. In 2005 he hit 17 home runs in just 304 ABs. He'd retire with 60 career home runs, all but two of which came with the Twins.

Once his playing days concluded just before the 2008 season began, LeCroy jumped into the professional coaching ranks with the Washington Nationals, starting as the lead man for their Class-A affiliate in Hagerstown, Maryland. In 2011 he became the manager of their High-A affiliate, the Potomac Nationals. Then in 2012, he was named the manager of their Double-A club, which some may argue is a higher rank than college ball. He was only there for a season before the major league club name named him their bullpen coach, which is his current title. He's been the bullpen coach to players like Tanner Roark, Drew Storen, Tyler Clippard, and Rafael Soriano.

There are a couple of interesting things to ponder when considering Matthew LeCroy as a potential manager in the college ranks. Most obviously, he has zero college coaching experience and therefore little to no background in recruiting. Additionally, he has just five years as a head coach in the minor leagues. Of course, it's also true that a manager with extensive major league experience may have an advantage on the recruiting trail (think Danny Manning at Wake Forest basketball).

Finally, would a MLB coach be willing to move to the college ranks? Unlike football, you don't see a lot of coaches move back and forth between the college and professional ranks. The Clemson job wouldn't be a strong resume builder in the same respect that success at Michigan will be for Jim Harbaugh should he decide to re-enter the NFL.

Overall, I won't call it a bad hire, but from both perspective of LeCroy as well as Clemson, it may not be the best case scenario. Of course, there's something in those hills, which may call him back. Still, Clemson's first look should still be to top notch college coaches such as Kevin O'Sullivan, John Szfec, Monte Lee, Jim Schlossnagle, and Terry Rooney.