Jack Leggett stays young in the dugout, proud of Super coaching tree

Leggett is deservedly proud of his coaching tree.

David Hood - Senior Writer - Friday, June 07 2024

CLEMSON — Jack Leggett will sit in Clemson’s dugout this weekend and know that two of his guys are battling each other for the chance to go to Omaha. The competitive juices will be flowing, and he will give it all for his Tigers, but he will also have a lot of pride.

Leggett is in his second season with the Tiger program, assisting with player, staff, and program development in 2024, and his 26th season overall with the program. Leggett served as Clemson’s head coach for 22 seasons (1994-15) after spending two seasons (1992, 1993) as an assistant coach under Head Coach Bill Wilhelm. In 36 seasons as a Division I head coach, Leggett totaled 1,332 wins, tied for 12th in history entering the 2024 season.

As head coach, Leggett led the Tigers to 955 wins, 21 NCAA Tournament appearances, and six College World Series berths. Clemson was the seventh-winningest program in the nation during his tenure, and his six trips to Omaha tied for ninth most in the nation.

Leggett was hired by current head coach Erik Bakich, who coached under Leggett in 2002 before moving to Vanderbilt to coach with Leggett assistant Tim Corbin.

A picture shows Leggett posing with Corbin, current Florida head coach Kevin O’Sullivan and Bakich during that 2002 season. Last weekend, Corbin and his Commodores played in the Clemson Regional, and this weekend, O’Sullivan brings his Florida Gators to town with a trip to Omaha on the line.

However, Leggett’s coaching tree goes far beyond those names – VCU head coach Bradley LeCroy made the NCAA Tournament this season, and names like Keith LeClair, John Pawlowski, and Tom Riginos are familiar to college baseball fans.

TigerNet sat down with Leggett to discuss his coaching tree, his legacy, and what his feelings will be this weekend.

What is it like having Corbin in last weekend and now having a front-row seat for Erik and Kevin going head-to-head this weekend?

“I'm just proud, proud of what Tim has done, what Sully's done, and certainly what Erik is doing and what he's done in his career, and all the guys that have I've coached with, we just have a bond. We all respect each other. I think we all learn from each other. We all have the same type of chemistry and competitive juices, and we just have remained friends. We remain loyal, and so it's always hard to play against somebody that you're really close with, but at the same time, we're all so competitive, so when it comes to game time, it's you against them or whatever, and you have to play and compete and compete for your school, compete for your players and your coaches. So, it becomes a game at that point. But before that, I just have respect for all of the coaches that I've had in the past.”

In looking back at 2002 and that picture with Sully, Tim and Erik, did you have an idea those guys would be successful head coaches?

“Yeah, absolutely. Never thought about it much because you're so immersed in your own program, and we had kept all of us together for a long period of time. Erik came in for a year and then left, but Tim had been here nine years. Sully was here for eight years, a few after Tim left. And so, at that point you're just, the chemistry is so good and so strong, and we had been to Omaha in 2000. We had been to Omaha with Tim in ‘95 and ‘96, 2000, 2002, and with Sully and Tim together and then in 2002 we were in Omaha again with Erik. And so, I think we were just going year by year, day by day. I don't think they were thinking about running off to be a head coach someplace.

On a side note, how about this throwback pic of Kevin O'Sullivan, Jack Leggett, Tim Corbin and Erik Bakich? pic.twitter.com/WRBJBVtVQy
— Kendall Rogers (@KendallRogers) April 14, 2017

“I don't think they were unhappy at all. They were just happy to be here. We just had such great coaching and team chemistry that things were working really well. So I think everybody was just happy where they were. In 2002, the opportunity came up for Tim to move on to Vanderbilt, and then in 2006, the opportunity came up for Sully to move on to Florida. But leading up to either one of those times, I never talked about and they had never asked about or told me they wanted to go off and be a head coach or that's what their aspiration was. And I'm sure it was in their minds, but we just were so focused on trying to do a good job at Clemson and they were all in at the time. And so there was really never any feeling that maybe we might coach together for a long, long, long time.”

How are you and Erik similar and what makes him such a good coach?

“I think we're very similar and we have the same kind of ideas about how to put together a team. We both have, I think, an abundance of energy and I think the players really like Erik and work well with his coaches. And I think we did the same thing. And I think in a lot of ways we're very similar, and that's why we get along so well. I don't think there's anything different. I think we both feed off each other, and we both have good energy, and he feeds off his other coaches, and he surrounds himself with good people, and he's passionate. And I think I always had the relationship with the fans and I think our players. And so, I think there's a lot of similarities, to be honest with you. And I think the same thing with Tim and Sully. I think there's a lot of things that we have in common.”

I looked down the other night in that close game against Coastal, and you were in the dugout smiling, and I thought, ‘Jack is having a lot of fun.’ Are you having a lot of fun?

“I am. I'm having a lot of fun. I really have enjoyed the coaches and the players, and the fans have been great, and the energy in the stadium's been awesome, and the grind of this team and the comebacks and all those types of things, we've had many, many years of those types of things and many games like that at Tiger Field. And so, to me, it brings back a lot of really good memories and it's a really good feel to be in dugout. The best part of it is that Erik and Graham (Neff) have been so good to me and his coaches and the players have been so welcoming. And I think it's, if I didn't feel comfortable, if I didn't feel valued or wanted or needed in some respects or appreciated or respected, that I wouldn't be around. I have other things to do, but I just have felt welcomed since the very beginning when Erik got the job, and he just made a statement that I needed to be around, however long that lasts or doesn't last, but I felt the same way about him.

“We just have a really good chemistry. We have a lot of respect for each other. We have a lot of fun. We laugh a lot. We have the same kind of humor. We have the same kind of passion for competing and energy and passion with the players and all that kind of thing. So I just see, honestly, a lot of similarities is that that's maybe how things were when I was 45. And I still feel like I'm 35, and I think that's what this game does, and this is what being a part of the program does. It just keeps you young, keeps you thinking young, keeps you around young people. So it's been great.”

pretty cool moment the ACCN cameras caught pregame between Erik Bakich and the man who gave him his first college coaching job, Jack Leggett pic.twitter.com/nDIQDT71sv
— Marc Whiteman (@MarcWYFFNews4) June 1, 2024