Three ways new head coach Link Jarrett can improve Florida State's baseball program

All Link Jarrett does is turn around college baseball programs.

UNC Greensboro and Notre Dame were essentially resurrected by Jarrett, who Florida State announced as its new head coach Friday. That track record should inspire optimism about what he could accomplish with the Seminoles.

The Spartans ended their 20-year NCAA Tournament drought under Jarrett in 2017. They tallied at least 34 wins in each of his last four seasons at the helm, which is still a school record. And in 2016, UNCG led the nation in batting average (.346), hits (726), triples (32), slugging percentage (.538) and on-base percentage (.425).

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Then Jarrett took over a struggling Irish team ahead of the 2020 season. Notre Dame had earned a berth to the NCAA Tournament only once since 2007. And in their first six seasons in the ACC before Jarrett arrived, the Irish finished better than sixth in the seven-team Atlantic Division just once.

In his two full seasons, Jarrett helped guide the Irish to back-to-back NCAA Super Regional appearances for the first time in program history. Prior to advancing to the College World Series this month, Notre Dame had only ever reached that stage of the postseason in 1957 and 2002.

The Seminoles will certainly need to be revived in a different way. They have been decent recently. Just not great. They were good enough under previous head coach Mike Martin Jr. to keep their streak of 44 consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances alive. But in Martin’s two full seasons, FSU failed to reach the super regionals in back-to-back attempts for just the second time since 1986.

For the Seminoles to finally meet their high standards again, Jarrett will likely have to complete a few objectives. Below is a closer look at what Jarrett needs to accomplish.

Win the transfer portal

FSU landing NC State’s Tommy White – the biggest name in the transfer portal this month – would have been quite the start to Jarrett’s tenure.

The Seminoles could have used a slugger like White, who earned the nickname “Tommy Tanks” for a reason. White topped the NCAA’s freshman home run record with 27 this season. He also hit .362 with a .425 on-base percentage, .757 slugging percentage, 85 hits, 74 RBIs and 12 doubles.

White passed on FSU and Jarrett, though, to play for LSU. He announced the news Friday.

That development leaves the Seminoles still needing corner infielders. They are looking to replace first baseman Alex Toral and third basemen Jackson Greene and Logan Lacey. Pitching should also be among the Seminoles’ biggest priorities.

FSU’s top two starting pitchers, All-ACC lefties Parker Messick and Bryce Hubbart, are expected to be drafted next month. Left-handed pitcher Ross Dunn, who started 11 games in the Sunday role, announced last week that he’s transferring to Arizona State.

Just five healthy pitchers – righties Carson Montgomery, Jackson Baumeister and Conner Whittaker, and lefties Wyatt Crowell and Andrew Armstrong – are returning to the Seminoles. Crowell (2.12) and Whittaker (2.48) are the only pitchers from that group who posted an ERA below 5.00 this season. Montgomery is the lone pitcher with weekend starting experience.

At Notre Dame, Jarrett hammered the transfer portal to improve the questionable pitching staff he inherited. Pitchers John Michael Bertrand (Furman), Tanner Kohlhepp (Iowa Western Junior College), Austin Temple (Jacksonville) and Ryan McLinskey (Seton Hall) were among his best portal additions.

The Irish finished No. 10 in ERA (3.93) last season and No. 35 in 2021 (3.95).

Capitalize on recruiting advantages

Martin Jr. being fired didn’t keep recruiting coordinator Mike Metcalf from continuing to fulfill his duties.

Despite the strong possibility that he won’t be retained, Metcalf gave an inspiring effort as the program lacked a head coach for two weeks. So instead of having to essentially work from scratch, Jarrett will now inherit a solid situation relative to recruiting. He will need to take advantage of his head start.

FSU still has its upcoming recruiting classes – 2022 (10th), 2023 (7th) and 2024 (1st) – all ranked in the top 10 nationally, per Perfect Game. The 2020 and 2021 classes came in at No. 20 and No. 11, respectively.

Jarrett will also benefit from the location of Tallahassee compared to South Bend, Ind. At Notre Dame, Jarrett needed to annually pursue recruits out of state. In the 2023 class alone, the Irish have 16 verbal commits from 10 different states. Of the 28 pledges in the Irish 2022-24 classes, only one of them came from Indiana.

With the Seminoles, Jarrett will be within driving distance from several of the nation’s best recruits. FSU has earned 37 pledges in the 2022-24 classes, and 26 of them are from the Sunshine State. Four of the remaining 11 are from Georgia.

Though South Bend came with its recruiting disadvantages, Jarrett managed to impress on the trail. Notre Dame went from having the No. 73 class in 2020 to No. 23 in 2021. Jarrett left the Irish's 2023 class ranked No. 21.

If Jarrett can recruit relatively well in South Bend, imagine the caliber of players he could attract to a historic program in a Southeast region ripe with talent.

Fix the issues with fundamentals

There’s one word that best describes FSU baseball in recent years: sloppy.

Last season seemed like a microcosm of the program’s biggest lingering issue. Just when the Seminoles started to show flashes of greatness, they would crumble in self-inflicting fashion. FSU could never find consistency for a long period of time.

The Seminoles won their first six weekend series, swept No. 12 Louisville and took two out of three games against No. 4 Miami. But their constant struggles on the road (6-14) and in midweek games (five losses) played a major role in why they didn’t host an NCAA Regional.

To correct those issues, Jarrett must first work to fix the problems with fundamentals that have been plaguing the team. The inconsistent play often comes from the high frequency of blunders like fielding errors, baserunning mistakes and poor plate approaches.

In the last eight seasons, FSU has never ranked higher than No. 125 nationally in fielding percentage. The Seminoles ranked lower than No. 140 in all but one of those seasons. Jarrett showed at Notre Dame, though, that he can turn a team’s fielding woes around in short order.

The Irish came in at No. 203 in fielding percentage in 2019 before Jarrett arrived. They improved to No. 103 (.971) in 2020 before finishing No. 5 (.982) and No. 12 (.980) in the next two seasons. A fielding percentage of .985 and .980 would easily crush FSU’s all-time record. The Seminoles’ highest in history is .975, which happened in 2007.

Jarrett’s detail-oriented approach paid dividends at Notre Dame. It might just be what helps FSU change for the better.

Reach Carter Karels at ckarels@gannett.com or follow him on Twitter @Carter Karels

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: How FSU baseball can improve under new head coach Link Jarrett