Wichita State makes it official, hires Washington State’s Brian Green as baseball coach

Wichita State announced Monday afternoon that it has reached an agreement to make Washington State head coach Brian Green the next head coach of the Shockers baseball team.

No details of Green’s contract length or annual salary were disclosed in the release. The deal was first reported by Kendall Rogers of D1Baseball.com on Sunday.

WSU will introduce Green at a press conference at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday in the home locker room at Eck Stadium. The event is free and open to the public and will be streamed live on ESPN+.

“What a monumental opportunity to lead Shocker Baseball,” Green said in the release. “Since learning of the opportunity in recent days, we haven’t slept and we are excited to join Shocker Nation. We are blessed to lead one of the most storied traditions in college baseball. Sharing the same dugout Gene Stephenson built is the honor of all honors.

“Shocker Nation, I can promise you we are coming to work; to work hard and to get to the College World Series. Our singular focus, attention and objective is to represent you in Omaha, making that dream a reality once again!”

In the immediate aftermath of the decision by WSU athletic director Kevin Saal not to retain interim head coach Loren Hibbs last Tuesday, multiple sources told The Eagle there was strong mutual interest between Green and Saal.

Unlike Saal’s first two high-profile coaching hires — Paul Mills (men’s basketball) and Terry Nooner (women’s basketball), who both had strong regional ties — Green’s nearly three-decade career has never featured a stop in the Midwest before. The 51-year-old from Temecula, Calif. has spent the majority of his career on the West coast and Southwest region.

Also unlike his other hires, Saal has a working history with Green, dating back to their days together at the University of Kentucky. Saal worked in the UK athletic department for all six years when Green served as an assistant coach for the Wildcats from 2009-14.

Since departing Kentucky, Green, has become a head coach for the past nine years with a reputation for turning programs around.

“Wichita State hired one of the best coaches and human beings in the country in Brian Green,” LSU head coach Jay Johnson said in the release. “Brian is the total package as a leader, developer, recruiter, and baseball coach. That combination is hard to find but the Shockers did and secured a bright future with Brian Green as their leader.”

Green has spent the last four seasons as head coach at Washington State, where he has compiled a 91-79 record. He inherited a program that had won just 33% of its games the previous four years, as Green strung together three straight winning seasons in Pullman for the first time since 2010. The Cougars finished this past season with their best overall record (29-23) under Green but their worst Pac-12 record (10-19). The Cougars, which were working toward their first regional bid since 2010, have also failed to qualify for the conference tournament the past two seasons under Green.

The financial troubles of the Washington State athletic department have recently been made public, which likely played a role in Wichita State being able to pry Green away. His recent contract extension had slated to keep Green at Washington State through the 2026 season, as his annual salary when he began the job was $315,000. The Eagle is still awaiting an open records request through Washington State to be fulfilled for Green’s latest contract, which would detail the buy-out money required from Wichita State.

Green came to Washington State after a successful stint at his alma mater, New Mexico State, where he had a 158-122-1 record in five seasons, a 2018 NCAA Regional appearance and a 2019 Western Athletic Conference regular season championship. He also engineered one of the best single-season turnarounds in college baseball history, as the Aggies finished with a 34-23 record in his second season — a 23-win improvement from the 11-win mark in his first year.

In Green’s final four seasons, New Mexico State finished either first or second in the WAC standings with an overall record of 147-84 (64% winning percentage). In the four seasons since Green has left, New Mexico State has a 70-106 record (40% winning percentage).

Before becoming a head coach, Green had more than a decade of Div. I experience as an assistant coach with stops at San Diego (2002), Hawaii (2003-04), UCLA (2005-08) and Kentucky (2009-14).

At both stops as a head coach, Green has earned a reputation as one of the better recruiters in college baseball. His recruiting classes have annually been rated among the best in the country, as Green has leaned heavily on pulling junior college players recently to help bolster Washington State’s roster. His teams have also traditionally excelled in the classroom with a commitment to community service.

“Brian has developed into one of the most respected and balanced leaders in college baseball,” Saal said in the release. “Serving nine years leading two unique programs in distinctly different leagues, Brian has ushered transformational and unprecedented results.

“Brian’s work ethic, attention to detail and commitment to purpose fuels record recruiting and player development outcomes. Additionally, through his dynamic personality, engaging approach and authentic connections, Brian has become an invaluable member of his community.”

Green has plenty of work to do in his first days on the job, as he must attempt to stabilize a program with at least 28 players from this past season’s roster currently in the transfer portal. While those players are still eligible 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.

Monday’s announcement marked the conclusion of a national search conducted by Saal that lasted just under a week. The Shockers are coming off a season where they posted a 30-25 record and third-place finish in the American Athletic Conference, as Hibbs earned Coach of the Year honors from his peers. But WSU sputtered down the final stretch of the season, went winless at the conference tournament and missed the NCAA tournament for the 10th straight year.