RE: Stricklin to Georgia
Kent State assistant Daeley accepts job with Georgia, while Birkbeck keeps thinking
By Allen Moff | Staff Writer Published: June 12, 2013 4:00AM
While Scott Daeley officially accepted an offer from former Kent State baseball coach Scott Stricklin to join him at the University of Georgia on Tuesday, veteran Golden Flashes pitching coach Mike Birkbeck is still weighing his options.
Daeley has been named assistant coach and recruiting coordinator for the Bulldogs. He will serve as the hitting coach, work with the outfielders and be the third base coach during games, the same roles he's filled for the past nine years at Kent State under Stricklin.
"We're excited that Scott is going to be a part of the staff at the University of Georgia," said Stricklin. "He's an outstanding coach with great instincts for the game and will be a tremendous asset to the student-athletes. We're thrilled that Scott, Alison and his family will be joining us here."
Meanwhile, Birkbeck has been formally offered a job as Georgia's pitching coach, and is also the top candidate to take over the Kent State program. Birkbeck visited Stricklin on Monday in Athens, Ga.
"I finally had the opportunity to go down there. I spent most of the day in Athens, took the tours," said Birkbeck. "A decision of this magnitude, for me, I felt like I had to see it."
Birkbeck has spent the past 17 seasons as pitching coach of the Flashes, and has earned his reputation as one of the elite assistants in the country. The Orrville native and former University of Akron All-American pitcher was named 2012 Baseball America/American Baseball Coaches Association Assistant Coach of the Year after helping Kent State reach the College World Series in 2012, and has worked with 40 KSU pitchers who have gone on to play professionally.
Birkbeck was offered the position as head coach at Kent State in 2004 when Rick Rembielak left the Flashes in order to take over the Wake Forest program, but decided to remain KSU's pitching coach. He finds himself in a similar situation now that Stricklin has moved on to Georgia.
"I'm still deliberating all of this," said Birkbeck. "It's a hard decision. Today, I really haven't had a chance to sit down and discuss it with my wife. My son is in New Hampshire (playing summer baseball), so I'm gonna sit down and we're gonna talk about some things. Some very important things."
Birkbeck's son, John, just completed his sophomore season as a relief pitcher for the Flashes.
"I've got a lot of different families," Birkbeck added. "I've got my family, I've got the Kent State family, I've got my extended family. A lot of this is about family. Families that I love."
Stricklin is attempting to keep his coaching family together. Daeley and Birkbeck were his only full-time assistants during his nine-year run at Kent State, which produced five Mid-American Conference regular-season championships and five MAC Tournament titles.
Daeley served as a volunteer assistant coach for two years at his alma mater Wake Forest before joining the Flashes' staff.
"My family and I are real excited about coming to Georgia," said Daeley. "I'm looking forward to getting started and working in the SEC and facing some of the best teams and coaches in the country. Every weekend it's going to be a challenge, and I will enjoy being in that atmosphere of SEC baseball."
Stricklin said in a text message on Tuesday that he "hopes to have the pitching coach settled by the end of the week."
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