“I’m not here to make promises,” Haire cautioned. “But it’s always been my dream job, to build programs.” – Ohio State baseball coach, Justin Haire
Making his first public appearance in scarlet and gray, new baseball hire Justin Haire said all the right things, made no promises, but promised that “development” is always messy.
Columbus, OH – As hiring press conferences go it checked all the boxes.
Some history of the program by incoming AD Ross Bjork…the introduction of Justin Haire, wearing a gray suit with a scarlet pocket square, as the 13th coach in Ohio State baseball history…Haire’s remarks, that were decidedly different than Bill Mosiello’s, just two years ago…and the reality, perhaps, that maybe the less said the better. There’s massive work to be done between now and the middle of February.
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Haire was impressive Wednesday at the Fawcett Center as he addressed the curious, a few program blue bloods, and the smattering of media that won’t see another Buckeye baseball game until the next coaching hire. He was enthusiastic, appreciative for the opportunity, and above all else, optimistic that anything can be done if you commit to a process. He never mentioned budget, and he didn’t have much to say about the reality of NIL as it applies to northern baseball – hybrid, compared to heirloom baseball, if you will.
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Coming from tiny Campbell University, in Buies Creek, North Carolina, his record speaks for itself. As Casey Stengel famously said, you can look it up. Multiple conference titles, 317 wins, five NCAA regional appearances, and more-than-passing regional tournament success. What he did there over the course of ten seasons speaks for itself. The man can develop a baseball program, obviously, if given the time, and the gift of stability.
And he represented that such stability Wednesday, more than NIL, more than the portal, and more than recruiting…might be the most important element to future success, having taken the job that Mosiello abandoned in May after just two seasons. Counting Greg Beals (now at Marshall), Haire becomes the third head baseball coach at OSU in four seasons.
He said all the right things…about commitment, hard work, and bringing in high-character athletes who appreciate the privilege of wearing the scarlet and gray.
He thanked all the right people, including his family and former bosses who helped him along the way.
He talked about expectation, competing for Big Ten titles, and playing for each other. But unlike Mosiello, he wasn’t committal as to how long it might take. There are other realities that come with the job.
Mosiello promised that he’d hit the ground running…that there was no five-year plan. They would win on the first day and win more after that. Ohio State would be a dominant, sustainable force in Big Ten baseball…where there’s never been a dominant, sustainable force.
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Haire made no such promise, only that in the short term there would be developmental baseball. And to a group of returning players in the back of the room he added, “And development can be messy.”
He doesn’t believe in coincidences, but de does believe that everything happens for a reason, adding, “When the Long Beach State job opened up in California, and a TCU assistant was hired to fill that, it opened Mosiello’s old spot at TCU, for which he returned.
“The Ohio State job wasn’t even discussed, but suddenly it opened up in the middle of June,” he said.
Athletic Director Ross Bjork said it took about fifteen minutes to realize that Haire was the man, and ask what would it take to make it happen?
“I’m not here to make promises,” Haire cautioned. “But it’s always been my dream job – to build programs. I can’t predict the future, and I can’t tell you how many championships we’re going to win. But what I will tell you is that we’re going to have the right people in place and work incredibly hard. We’re going to make sure that the product we put on the field will be something everyone can be proud of.
“The process will be hard, the challenge will be unimaginable. Development is messy. The goal will be to become the best version of Buckeye baseball, and ultimately, trips to Omaha…and dog piles.”
“We’ll recruit student-athletes that want to receive a world-class education from Ohio State University. We’ll recruit student-athletes that come here to compete, to find out just how good they can be. I want to make sure that every player that walks out of Ohio State is a better person and a better player. To our alumni, baseball is the oldest sport on campus (143 years), and has a tremendous legacy. We’re going to build on the legacy that those guys worked so hard to create. We want those guys around, and in short, it’s time for our alumni to come home, and come together.
“And to our student-athletes, I want them to enjoy the journey. The process will be hard, the challenge will be unimaginable. Development is messy. (Repeating) Development IS messy. The goal will be to become the best version of Buckeye baseball, and ultimately, trips to Omaha…and dog piles. But it won’t come instantly, and it won’t come easy. Anything good comes on the other side of adversity, and we’ll attack that adversity.
“What can people expect from me, and our staff?” he continued. “Enthusiasm for process of building this program into the monster we know it can be!”
He grew up in Hamilton County (Ohio) and seems easy to like. There’s a Carolina colloquial quality about him that comes from his 17 years at Campbell.
“We’re going to love and work the heck out of our players,” he assures.
What he didn’t say…they better have three of the five tools.
His wife Lindsey was there, along with their four young children. And just for good measure, he brought his mother-in-law, Cathy…because, well, it never hurts.
“She (Cathy) has been along for a heckuva’ ride that she never saw coming seventeen years ago,” he said cheerfully. “But I wanted my family here because that’s how we’ll run the program – as a family – from day one, on.”
But as good as it felt, and sounded, there are some obstacles, and questions unasked by the handful of curious that showed up to write about day one of the Justin Haire era.
Reality one…the portal giveth sometimes, but most recently the portal hath taken away – four significant starters from the 2024 rosters – six significant losses – that are going to hurt. All-Big Ten shortstop Henry Kaczmar has gone to South Carolina. Friday night starter Landon Beidelschies took big money to move to Arkansas. Centerfielder Josh Stevenson, the wizard with a ‘Wilson’, has moved on to South Alabama. Rising star Isaac Cadena promptly followed Mosiello back to Texas Christian University. Freshman pitchers Zach Brown and Gavin DeVooght have moved on to Georgia and Michigan, respectively. And can the portal giveth enough to show first signs of the monster they know can be by February?
“We’ll grow as the opportunities grow, and when we win that changes the financial realities for the program. “
“I think for the short term we have to pour into the guys we have in the locker room,” he answered, without budging on what the portal might hold. “We have to make sure that we’re doing the absolute best we can with those guys. We have to make sure that they become the best possible versions of themselves. And as we begin to build out – win – and NIL becomes a more significant funding piece for our program, then we’ll have a chance to become really scary. We’re going to have a development process here that you can’t get at a lot of places. We’ll grow as the opportunities grow, and when we win that changes the financial realities for the program. Then we become a real monster in this space around our program.”
Reality two…the alumni that he covets a relationship with is waiting – has waited – a long time for the kind of monster that he envisions. One said recently, “I’ll see Jesus before I see the Buckeyes play in Omaha for a national championship.” So while he doesn’t promise success immediately, it will be hard to attract them without winning.
“I’m a true believer that if we take care of all the things that we can take care of, then winning will follow,” he reminds. “If we chase wins and not the process of putting ourselves in a position to win, then we’re short-sighting ourselves. And what will happen is, we’ll get hot one year, maybe win a championship, and then we’ll fall down. And then it might take us five years to win again. And all those guys who are waiting for us to win will be asking why we can’t win consistently. So, we need to build a process that puts us in a position to win consistently.”
Athletic Director Ross Bjork said it took about fifteen minutes to realize that Haire was the man, and ask what would it take to make it happen?
Reality three…whether by NIL or a larger commitment on the part of all Big Ten schools, it takes money to build anything, and it takes winning to climb those golden stairs to Ross Bjork’s office, where the budget for building is determined. How long might that take?
“I don’t know,” he says, honestly. “But we know that winning solves a lot. It pays to be a winner, right? And the more wins and championships you bring home – the more guys you can put in professional baseball – all those things factor in. To whom much is given, much is expected. And for right now I need to be the best steward I can be of what I have. We have to earn those things. We have to maximize, so people can see a return on their investment.”
Will he turn out to ‘Lucky 13’? It remains to be seen. But people have said for centuries that luck is a by-product of hard work, and stability. Justin Haire left little doubt about his willingness Wednesday. His record backs his reputation for being a builder.
It was day one, and dream jobs do come with nightmares. But he couldn’t have been happier for the chance to maximize heirloom baseball as coach of the Buckeyes – to be a good steward.
To again prove himself.
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