COLUMN: 5 Names To Replace Tracy Smith At ASU

TEMPE, AZ — The Arizona State University Sun Devils are in the market for a new baseball head coach for the first time in seven years.

That's because the Sun Devils parted ways with Tracy Smith, who led ASU to a 201-155 mark in seven seasons in Tempe, on Monday.

Smith took ASU to four NCAA Tournaments, but never got out of the regional round, including this year, when the Sun Devils fell to Fairfield, 9-7, on Sunday.

The Sun Devils are one of the most storied programs in NCAA baseball history, with five national championships and a host of MLB players that are ASU alums.

Arizona State hasn't made a trip to the College World Series in 11 years, however, which was indirectly mentioned in Athletic Director Ray Anderson's statement on the school's decision to part ways with Smith.

"We are committed to returning Sun Devil baseball back to one of the country's elite programs and will look for a leader who can help us compete for Pac-12 titles, consistently host postseason competitions and return us to the College World Series," Anderson's statement read. "We will begin a search for a new head coach immediately, and will be deliberate in securing a leader that is the best fit for the program and our university."

Here's a list of names that Anderson and company should consider in replacing Smith in Tempe:

• Andrew Checketts (UC-Santa Barbara head coach): Checketts has been a fantastic coach with the Gauchos, posting more than 300 wins and the 2019 Big West Conference regular season title so far. Checketts has led UCSB to consecutive 40-win seasons and almost upset the fifth-seeded Arizona Wildcats twice during the weekend's Tucson regional. He's going to be a head coach at a major program sooner rather than later, so Anderson and the Sun Devils should probably give the 45-year-old an interview in Tempe before someone else swoops in and hires Checketts away.
• Ben Orloff (UC-Irvine head coach): Orloff has only been a head coach for two seasons, but has already guided the Anteaters back to prominence. Irvine was short-changed by having to travel to Palo Alto to play in the regional round of the NCAA Tournament this year, despite being ranked No. 16 in the final USA Today poll, but has a shot at advancing to the Super Regional with a win over the Cardinal on Monday night. The Anteaters have already split their two regional contests against the Cardinal, losing 12-4 on Saturday, before beating Stanford, 8-4 on Sunday. A win on Monday would clinch UCI's first regional championship since 2014, and would likely cement Orloff's status as the hottest coaching commodity on the market this offseason. If Anderson and ASU can snag the 34-year-old, then the Sun Devils could position themselves as a top-tier program once again for a long, long time.
• T.J. Bruce (University of Nevada-Reno head coach): Bruce led Nevada to the Mountain West Conference regular season title in 2021, the school's first since 2018. Bruce is considered a skilled recruiter by many, having been a part of UCLA's national championship staff in 2013. Bruce could follow in the footsteps of another UNR head coach, Jay Johnson, and serve as a head coach in the Grand Canyon State.
• Nate Yeskie (University of Arizona pitching coach): I know the whole taboo element of the Arizona-ASU rivalry is at stake here, but Yeskie has been one of the nation's best pitching coaches, at Oregon State and now Arizona. Yeskie has coached 14 pitchers to All-Conference honors, with 15 All-American selections, 10 freshman All-American picks, in addition to the turnaround he's overseen in Tucson. Yeskie, who joined Arizona's staff in 2020, raised the Wildcat's staff-wide strikeouts-per-nine-innings-pitched from 7.52 to 10.80 from 2019 to 2020, while helping Johnson get Arizona into the Super Regional round for the first time since 2016. Yeskie is overdue to get his first head coaching role, and would be a solid hire for the Sun Devils.
• Mark Machtolf (Gonzaga head coach): Gonzaga has long been considered a hotbed of mid-major men's and women's basketball excellence. Machtolf has built a perennial power on the diamond in Spokane as well, however, posting a 505-499-2 record with the Bulldogs. His program took LSU and Oregon to the wire in the Eugene regional this weekend, shutting out the former on Friday night, before falling to the Ducks and Tigers by a combined score of 17-7. Machtolf would be a solid hire for an ASU program in need of stability, given his consistent success at Gonzaga.