UPDATE: Reports Indicate John Cohen will be Named the new Mississippi State Athletics Director

It’s been just a few weeks since we learned Scott Stricklin was not going to be the Athletics Director for the Mississippi St. Bulldogs. It appears the school did not have to look to far to find his replacement.

According to reports from Mike Bonner of the Clarion-Ledger, Mississippi St. Baseball Coach John Cohen is expected to be announced as the new Athletics Director. Bonner initially reported shortly after Stricklin left Cohen was the leading in-house candidate.

This means John Cohen now has to find his own replacement for the head coach of the baseball team. It would seem likely new assistant coach Gary Henderson would be named interim for the upcoming 2017 season. Henderson had been the coach of the Kentucky baseball team before being relieved of his duties.

But Kendall Rogers quickly put that rumor to rest.

There will be more time to speculate about such things at a later time. For now, John Cohen faces the task of keeping the strong momentum Scott Stricklin started when he left the position a few weeks ago. The athletic department has made enormous strides both on the field and off the field.

The biggest question fans will have for John Cohen as the AD will be how he handles Dan Mullen’s job situation. Greg Byrne wanted John Cohen’s opinion of Dan Mullen before he hired Mullen to take over after Sylvester Croom was fired. So Cohen obviously has a high opinion of Mullen.

There will be a lot of moving parts on this situation in the coming days. We’ll keep you posted as news about Cohen’s hire and the possible replacement for Cohen on the baseball diamond.

UPDATE

So, the school is refuting this story. Here is what Sid Salter tweeted out after Bonner reported what he had found.

Dan Wolken joined in as well.

Personally, I think they have made the decision, but the process isn’t complete. School didn’t want the info out now, so they are trying to deny its validity. But if you just hate Bonner and want to assume he is wrong, then don’t let me stop you.