“I think that connecting to the players and to the community is my lead tool – the ability to connect with the alumni.” – OSU baseball coach Justin Haire
The early returns on the new coaching hire are a pattern of optimism. Good person, good recruiter, good developer of talent are what people are saying about Buckeyes baseball coach Justin Haire.
Consider the irony. Justin Haire, Ohio State’s new hire as head baseball coach got a lot of media play Friday…from sources that hadn’t seen a Buckeyes game in three years.
Such are the perks for Ohio State baseball. They’re interested…until there’s something that interests them more.
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But apart from the prepared statements, the hiring of the ten-year coach of the Campbell Camels of the Coastal Athletic Conference was being appreciated across Division I baseball as a positive. You just had to dig a bit deeper for the specifics.
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He grew up in Hamilton, Ohio, played high school baseball at Hamilton Badin High School, and people in the Hamiton area were jacked by the announcement.
“He’s the man they want,” said Joe Backich, a Hamilton native, on Thursday. “They should have hired him two years ago.”
Those were different times, of course, and prior to the buyer’s remorse for Bill Mosiello. Who knew?
But by noon on Friday there was already much of the same curiosity as there was for Mosiello when he was hired, two years ago to the day.
So one, Haire is known in Division I circles as one of really bright young coaches in the business, and he comes with some Big Ten connections. He was an assistant under Purdue coach Greg Goff when the two were together for eight years at Campbell. Haire succeeded Goff when he left for Louisiana Tech in 2016.
He’s known for his eye for talent, and for being a developer of talent – patient, enthusiastic, and upbeat.
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“He was one of those kids who lived and breathed baseball from sunup to sundown when he played for me,” says former Bowling Green coach Danny Schmitz, who coached Haire at BG for two seasons. “Hard worker, optimistic, and he rarely had a bad day. He knows the game, and he knows baseball talent. It’s unbelievable what he’s done at Campbell in that amount of time. He’s going to be enthusiastic, and he’s one of the best young coaches on anyone’s list.”
“It’s a sad day if you’re a Camel,” said Tipp City’s Ryan Koopman, who was recruited and signed by Haire when he was Goff’s recruiting coordinator at Campbell.
“The dude just wins. He always finds a way. But away from the field he just really cares about his people. When I was in high school at Tipp I was recruited by Ohio State, UC, and other schools, but there was always a connection with Coach Haire. And when he found out that (wife) Heather and I were having twins this year he took the time to call and congratulate us – to catch up. Like I said, it’s a sad day for Campbell, but it’s a great hire for Ohio State.”
Haire guided Campbell to 317 wins over ten seasons, and five NCAA tournament appearances.
He guided Campbell to a record of 31-22 this past spring, the school’s first as a member of Coastal Athletic Association. His 2024 record included wins over UC Santa Barbara, Duke, and North Carolina State. Impressively, Haire has seen thirteen of his players drafted out of Campbell since 2016, and two (Cedric Mullins and Zach Neto) have found acclaim as major leaguers. And if you question Campbell University’s baseball pedigree…don’t. Former big league pitchers Jim and Gaylord Perry are both members of the Campbell Sports Hall of Fame.
To Koopman’s point, he’s known as a man who pursues and maintains connections, a ‘must’ with recruiting, and a must-have for future sponsors and benefactors of Ohio State baseball.
His experience has led him to appreciate those priorities that are important to college baseball, while college baseball itself struggles in the pecking order of priorities. So his first day on the job Friday was consumed with learning as much about Buckeye baseball as possible.
“It’s been about a hundred miles an hour,” he laughed over the phone, while driving his kids to summer camp in Arkansas. “I got the call from Mr Bjork this morning at 8:30, and I accepted the job on the spot. I had a zoom with the Ohio State team around 9 am, and got to meet with some of those guys just briefly. I must have had about 200 text messages on my phone, but Nick Swisher was my first call, and Bob Todd was my second. I wanted to communicate with those guys and let them know that we’ll work our butts off to make everyone who’s ever put on the scarlet and gray proud of the program we’re going to build.”
And another call was to his old boss, Greg Goff, now the head coach at Purdue.
“He told me it’s a good league (the Big Ten), with good players and good teams. He told me you got to be ready to coach your guys, it’s super competitive, but it’s fun. He told me that Ohio State was a no-brainer. ‘If you can get it you’d better get it. I think you can do some good things there.’ That’s all I needed to hear. From being here previously I knew about the facilities, and him telling me it’s a no-brainer solidified what I thought I already knew.”
While others have had their own experience with Haire, he’s convincing when he tells you that his greatest strength as a coach is that ability to connect with people.
“I think being competent is important, but I think that connecting to the players and to the community is my lead tool – the ability to connect with the alumni. I always want people to know that they’re valued, that everyone has a role to play. And our job now is to reconnect a lot of people back to Buckeye baseball. I want them to proud of their connection, their relationship, and their role with our success.”
Can he lure back those who’ve entered the portal? “The biggest thing for me is to have people here who want to be Buckeyes. And I know they chose Ohio State originally for a reason.”
While Haire’s hire is being heralded, there is that question of what he inherits in terms of roster, and how many of the roster that’s currently in the portal – Henry Kaczmar, Landon Beidelschies, Matt Graveline, Isaac Cadena, and Josh Stevenson – can be lured back to the Buckeyes for the 2024-’25 season.
“I think foremost is to get with those guys and see what they’re looking for…hoping for,” he says. “I need to know how much being a part of Ohio State baseball means to them. The biggest thing for me is to have people here who want to be Buckeyes. That’s first and foremost, and I know those guys chose Ohio State originally for a reason. But we have to find out why those guys are in the portal, what it looks like for them, and everyone is going to have to do what’s best for them at this point. That’s the way of the world in college athletics.
“But if they choose to come back we’re going to welcome them with open arms and try to win as many games as we can, and be in position to win championships. If they choose to go elsewhere, we’ll wish them the best of luck. But the greatest thing about Ohio State is there’s a lot of great players out there who would do anything to walk through the door of opportunity at Bill Davis Stadium. It’ll be my responsibility to fill the holes and the roles with high quality young men who two weeks ago didn’t have an opportunity like this. There are going to be players out there excited about putting on the scarlet and gray.”
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As for staff, he doesn’t equivocate, and he doubles down on wanting assistants who want to be Buckeyes, just like the players.
“We do have excellent people here, and there will be other opportunities out there for them if not here,” he assures. “But I’m working my way through reaching out to the members of the staff because I think it’s an important piece. I know Sean (Allen), and I’ve known Andrew (See) since he was a player at Ohio University.”
Again, his priority for the relationships that make college baseball coaches successful. Few come across as having more than Justin Haire.
And for those who wanted someone with Ohio roots…you’ve got it.
For those who wanted someone to bring energy and the willingness to connect – to heal – they’re the first words out of his mouth.
“The dude just wins,” says former Camel, Ryan Koopman.
We’ll know soon enough how he does it.
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