It’s been six days since Mark Kingston was fired. Moving into the weekend, South Carolina has yet to make a decision on who its next baseball coach will be. It’s not an easy choice as there are a lot of strong candidates available.
One of those getting looked at is East Carolina head coach Cliff Godwin. As the search continues, here are the reasons for why and why not the Gamecocks should look to hire Godwin as the next coach in Columbia.
Why South Carolina should hire Godwin
After his playing days came to an end, Godwin jumped right into coaching in 2003. It took 12 years of being an assistant at seven schools before he’d land his first head coaching gig. And coincidentally, it would be at his alma mater, East Carolina.
Since taking over in 2015, Godwin has led the Pirates to plenty of success. In his first year, he took the team to a 40-win season and regional appearance for the first time since 2012. The following year, ECU moved a step closer to its ultimate goal with a Super Regional berth in year two.
However, Godwin’s third year would be a step back for the program as ECU missed the postseason in 2017. But since then, the Pirates haven’t really looked back. Excluding the COVID-19 season, ECU made the postseason each of the next six seasons. And that included three more stops at the Super Regionals in 2019 and 2021-22.
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The big thing with Godwin is consistency. Not only are the Pirates typically making the Field of 64 every year, but they’ve won at least 40 games every year since 2018, excluding the 2020 COVID-19 campaign. In that time, ECU has finished first in the American Athletic Conference for the past five full seasons.
Godwin also has plenty of experience as a recruiting coordinator from his years before coming back to ECU. This was part of his role when he was at UCF and Ole Miss. In 2023, the Pirates owned the 23rd-best recruiting class, which was better than programs like Clemson, Ole Miss, Duke, and… here’s the kicker: South Carolina.
So Godwin has shown an ability to recruit at a high level against some of the top programs in the country. It also helps that he works in the Carolina’s, so he has a lot of familiarity with where the hot spots are.
It also seems that the players he’s coached really take well to him. It’s not the biggest box to check off but still one to examine nonetheless. Having chemistry and good leadership is important in a team sport like baseball.
After ECU was eliminated in its regional earlier this month, one of his players, Carter Cunningham, had a great line to say about what it’s been like to have Godwin as a coach.
“I never even told Coach Godwin this, but about halfway through the season, I stopped looking at him like a coach and started looking at him like a Christian mentor. I’ve never had a coach like that. And I love him for that,” Cunningham said.
What Cunningham said may not be for everyone, but the fact of the matter is Godwin connects well with players. And this could be an X factor if he were to be hired at South Carolina. Because he’s going to have to try to persuade some of the Gamecocks’ top players to play for him rather than leave for the transfer portal.
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Why South Carolina should not hire Godwin
While Godwin has surely been consistent in getting to the postseason every year, there’s one main knock against him. In all of those trips, he’s never been to the College World Series.
With him being an ECU alum, there’s definitely a desire to get the Pirates to Omaha for the first time in program history. And that could be a deciding factor if he were to stay with his current team and not take the job at South Carolina if offered. But just looking on the whole, it’s something to take note of.
The Pirates have been to four Super Regionals under Godwin since 2015. But in elimination games, opponents have outscored ECU, 38-2. So it shows there’s still some work to do after all these years.
It’s safe to say maybe coming to an SEC school with good resources could get him over the hump. But it’s not a surefire thing. This season, the Pirates were one of 16 teams to host a regional and came out on the losing end. They fell to four-seed Evansville in the regional final. And when Gamecock fans look at this, it could be an automatic red flag.
So if he came to Columbia, it wouldn’t be surprising for him to find immediate success. But it would really come down to whether or not he can elevate the Gamecocks and get the program back to Omaha.
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