Five things to know about new Wichita State Shockers baseball coach Brian Green

With Brian Green making the move from one WSU to another, here are five things to know about the new Wichita State baseball head coach.

1. Green has nine years of head coaching experience

WSU athletic director Kevin Saal has sided with a college baseball veteran with nearly a decade of head coaching experience.

Green has more than two decades of experience at the Division I level and has spent the last nine as a head coach. He has compiled a 91-79 record the last four years at Washington State after a 158-122-1 record in five years at New Mexico State.

Green is the fourth head coach of the Shockers since the legendary career of Gene Stephenson ended in 2013. He is the first to be hired by WSU as a current head coach, a change from the situations Todd Butler (Arkansas assistant), Eric Wedge (MLB) and Loren Hibbs (WSU director of operations) took over as Shocker coaches.

2. Green has a reputation for turning programs around

Green has just one NCAA regional appearance on his resume, but he worked all nine years as a head coach at programs facing uphill challenges.

At Washington State, he inherited a program that had won just 33% of its games the previous four years. The Cougars finished this past season with a 29-23 record, their third straight winning season — a feat that hadn’t been accomplished in Pullman since 2010.

Washington State has struggled in conference play, however, as the team has posted a 35-54 record in Pac-12 play under Green and failed to qualify for the conference tournament the last two seasons.

Green engineered one of the best single-season turnarounds in college baseball history at New Mexico State, leading the Aggies to a 23-win improvement after an 11-win season in his first year. In his final four seasons, New Mexico State won 64% of its games (147-84 record), made a 2018 NCAA Regional appearance and won the 2019 WAC regular season championship. In the four seasons since Green departed, the Aggies have posted a 70-106 combined record.

3. Green has past experience with WSU athletic director Kevin Saal

Saal had the chance to evaluate Green up close and in person for six years when the two worked at the University of Kentucky from 2009-14.

Green, an assistant coach for the Wildcats, served as the baseball team’s offensive coordinator and infield defensive coach under Gary Henderson, while Saal worked in the UK athletic department. During Green’s final two years in Lexington, Saal was the sport administrator for the program.

4. Green has never worked in the Midwest

Saal’s first two high-profile hires of his tenure both had strong regional ties in men’s basketball coach Paul Mills and women’s basketball coach Terry Nooner.

Green is a departure from that path. The 51-year-old California native has spent the vast majority of his professional career somewhere along the West Coast or in the Southwest region. His time at Kentucky was the only time he’s been east of the Rocky Mountains.

Green has been heralded as a superb recruiter, a reputation that will be put to the test at Wichita State, where recruiting Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas — states Green has rarely been in — will be a priority.

5. The challenge facing Green with the Shockers

First and foremost, Green is tasked with trying to take Wichita State back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2013.

And by the sounds of Saal’s letter to Shocker Nation, his boss will be expecting deep runs in the postseason.

In the immediate future, Green’s task will be to try to stabilize a program that features at least 28 players from this past season’s roster currently in the transfer portal. While those players are still able to return to WSU next season, many cited on social media WSU’s decision to change coaches as their reason for entering the portal.

The only player with even a modicum of experience remaining on WSU’s roster is two-way superstar Payton Tolle.

Green heavily recruited junior college players at Washington State to bolster the roster, a strategy he might employ early on with the Shockers.