Scattershooting: O’Connor answers why he left UVA

By Jerry Ratcliffe

Scattershooting on a brilliant June afternoon, while setting the record straight on why Brian O’Connor left Virginia …

There have been numerous conspiracy theories on why a Hall of Fame baseball coach, a UVA legend after 22 seasons, would up and leave a program that he has built into a national power. I had to wonder as well because at the end of the regular season, Oaks shared some interesting information about his son, Dillon, a 6-foot-5, 200-pound, right-handed pitcher for Billy Wagner at Miller School.

Dillon, who was a junior this past season, is a Miller teammate of John Michael Szefc, whose dad, John, is the head baseball coach at Virginia Tech. John Michael was also a junior this past season.

While UVA and Tech are bitter rivals, the O’Connors and the Szefc’s are not. The two coaches have been close friends going back years and years. O’Connor revealed to us that there was also a possibility that young Szefc might live with the O’Connor family in Charlottesville for next school year.

That didn’t sound like a guy who was thinking about leaving.

Still, rather than guess about what theory might be correct, we went straight to the source and finally got hold of O’Connor. It has been a whirlwind, overwhelming week since news broke that he was leaving behind his sterling Virginia career and moving to Mississippi State.

Why?

O’Connor had the floor, on or off the record, to say anything he wanted. This was his answer:

“This is exactly what it is: after 22 years, I needed a change and a new challenge. That’s it,” O’Connor told us. “It had nothing to do with UVA support of baseball. Nothing to do with that at all.”

I’m just glad that he spoke his mind, even though some people are going to say, well, he just decided to take the high road. All we know is all we know.

He did seem disappointed though, that some Virginia fans have expressed disappointment that he left and didn’t thank them for their years of support. Well, we’re here to add some clarification to that.

O’Connor told me that he sent the Virginia athletic department a letter to the fans (thanking them) three days ago so the department could post for Wahoo Nation to read.

“They must not want to post it,” O’Connor said. “I don’t have social media. Otherwise, I would post it.”

So if you’re a UVA baseball fan and think that he’s ungrateful, think again. That’s clearly not the case.

Big doings in Starkville

It’s a big night down in Starkville as Mississippi State will formally introduce O’Connor to Bulldogs fans. Sounds like it’s going to be a heck of a shindig.

It’s labeled “The O’Connor Era Welcome Event,” and is expected to draw thousands from perhaps college baseball’s most passionate fan base. It all begins at 7 p.m. Central time and allegedly will be televised on the SEC Network (don’t at me if it’s not).

Coolers and cowbells are welcome. It’ll be like a game day with tailgating and special “O’Connor shirts” available for purchase.

Bulldog support growing

While Mississippi State had fallen behind much of the SEC in terms of NIL funding for baseball, apparently that’s changing, as the Bulldogs have rallied around the hiring of O’Connor.

Reports from Starkville indicate that the Bulldogs are “committing significant NIL resources to rebuild and elevate the program.” The gap between MSU and SEC leaders is rapidly narrowing and O’Connor is expected to be one of the highest-paid coaches in the SEC.

An $8-million NIL gift to one of State’s initiatives last fall is giving a major boost to the transformation.

With all that, certainly places immense pressure on O’Connor to produce quickly.

His entire staff from Virginia (with the exception of pitching coach Drew Dickinson) followed O’Connor to Starkville: Kevin McMullen, Matt Kirby, Justin Armistead, Travis Reifsnider, Joe Savino and Justin Weiss. O’Connor has also added JMU associate head coach Michael Roberts, who was on O’Connor’s UVA staff from 2014-18 and again in ‘22 before heading to Harrisonburg.

Wahoos hit the portal

According to On3, Virginia leads all Power 4 college baseball programs with 21 players entering the transfer portal as of Thursday morning.

Several of those players have “no contact” labels on their transfer, which indicates they already know where they’re going.

It would be easier to note what UVA players haven’t entered the portal as opposed to those who have.

All this places tremendous pressure on Virginia AD Carla Williams to find a new coach, who will have to hire a new staff and hit the transfer portal hard to restock the Cavaliers’ roster.

UVA gets TE via portal

Virginia football has picked up a new tight end candidate, who is transferring from Cornell’s lacrosse program.

Walker Wallace, a longstick midfielder for Cornell, announced via Twitter-X that he’s headed to Virginia as a grad student and will play at the tight end spot for the Cavaliers.

He’s 6-7, 240, and a native of Richmond.

Bryce Perkins All-UFL

Do you remember how much fun it was watching Bryce Perkins play quarterback for Virginia? He elevated everyone around him, led the Wahoos to the ACC Coastal Division title, a spot in the ACC Championship game and a berth in the Orange Bowl.

He’s still piling up yardage, now for the Michigan Panthers of the United Football League, where he was just named to the All-UFL team. Also making the team was former UVA teammate Ryan Nelson.

Hootie’s Golden Nuggets

• Almost unbelievable that there will be three Cavaliers in next week’s U.S. Open at Oakmont. Bowen Sargent has to be beaming that Ben James, Bryan Lee and former Cavalier George Duangmanee all qualified for the event and will be joining another former Wahoo, PGA Tour’s Denny McCarthy at the event. Four Virginians in the same field is unprecedented.
• Recently saw a photo of former UVA basketball star Justin Anderson posing with Belgian power forward Thijs De Ridder, after a game in one of the European leagues. The two were trading jerseys. I’m guessing Anderson did a little recruiting in the process. I’m told the recent clamp-down on visas may have something to do with De Ridder coming to the U.S., where he reportedly wants to play for Ryan Odom’s Virginia team this year. De Ridder is also waiting to be cleared by the NCAA.
• Vivian Yang is transferring from Pepperdine to UVA women’s tennis. She played at the No. 1 and No. 3 spots for Pepperdine this spring with overall records of 27-22 in singles, 28-24 in doubles. She’s ranked No. 61 in singles and No. 7 in doubles by the ITA.