Although the baseball season ended more than a month ago, the team took a major “hit.” On Wednesday, Chris Finwood announced his resignation as head baseball coach at WKU and stated he would be accepting a head-coaching job at Old Dominion. The news came as a shock and quickly spread around campus this morning. By mid-morning, many people were in disbelief by the news. Athletic Director Ross Bjork offered Finwood a contract extension, but Finwood's decision ultimately came down to what was best for his family. A long time coach in the State of Virginia, Finwood jumped on the opportunity to return to Virginia. “Ross and I had many conversations both during this past season and recently… He offered a very fair extension to me and has a vision for continuing to improve the baseball program, and my leaving is in no way a reflection on anything at WKU. This is just a unique opportunity for our family that we cannot turn down. I am very proud of all that we accomplished in the last six years. We did some special things…”
Finwood has been one of the most successful coaches at WKU in the last few years. Since becoming the head coach for the WKU baseball team, the Tops reached new heights on the hill. In 2008, Finwood led the WKU to a 33-27 record, its first winning season since 2004, and even took the Hilltopper to the NCCA tournament. In 2009 he improved upon his success leading his team to the school's first 40-win season in 21 seasons. The Hilltoppers finished an impressive 42-20 and set a new school record for the highest home winning percentage in school history with a record of 27-3. In 2010, Finwood helped schedule one of the toughest seasons in WKU history. Of the 56 games his team played, 24 games came against teams that appeared in the 2009 NCAA Tournament.
However, not only has Finwood revitalized the program, he has increased the excitement of baseball in the Bowling Green area. 6,183 fans, the largest crowd to ever watch a college baseball game in Kentucky, came out to watch WKU defeat UK 24-8 in 2010. Coach Finwood also coached some of the best players to ever come through the program. He elevated his players to the next level and watched 60 of his players sign professional baseball contracts. In just six years, Finwood successfully built WKU into one of the best baseball teams in the Sunbelt Conference and his success will be greatly missed.
The attention now turns to Ross Bjork. This will be the first time that Bjork has had to go out and hire a new head coach. The youngest athletic director of the 120 FBS schools, Bjork has shown that he is willing to go out a spend money on a new baseball coach. The athletics program already committed a significant increase in salary for assistant coaches for the baseball program and will likely do the same for the head coach position as well. There are no clear favorites for the job, but in a statement released Tuesday, Bjork stated that, “Our program will attract a number of quality candidates that can lead WKU baseball to the next level… the process of identifying and hiring the best person to serve as our next head baseball coach will begin immediately.” Although untested, I have confidence that Bjork will hire a qualified candidate for the job and am hopeful that the new coach continues to build the program to even newer heights.
Finwood Coaching Resume:
Virginia Military Institute, Assistant Coach, 1989-90; 1991
Radford, Assistant Coach, Fall 1990
Virginia Military Institute, Head Coach, 1992-94
Virginia Commonwealth, Assistant Coach, 1995-98
Virginia Commonwealth, Associate Head Coach, 1999-2000
Auburn, Assistant Coach, 2001-05
WKU Head Coach 2006-2011
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