Ohio

Why Justin Haire left Campbell to be Ohio State baseball coach: OSU ready to ‘turn the corner’

Published

2 years ago

June 21, 2024

Why Justin Haire left Campbell to be Ohio State baseball coach: OSU ready to ‘turn the corner’

Two years ago, Justin Haire was not considering leaving Campbell University to take over the Ohio State baseball program.

When former Ohio State baseball coach Greg Beals was fired after the 2022 season, Haire was leading the Fighting Camels to a Big South Championship and into an NCAA regional. He never reached out to Ohio State. Ohio State never reached out to him.

“It just didn’t line up,” Haire said.

But two years later, when Haire began to hear rumblings that the Ohio State baseball job was opening up again, the Hamilton, Ohio native couldn’t pass up the opportunity.

“I told my wife the night before, ‘Hey, this might be going down,’” Haire said. “‘If it is, I think it’s something I’m going to try to go all in on. I just feel like the timing’s right.’”

One week after Bill Mosiello resigned to return to TCU as an assistant coach, Haire was announced as Ohio State’s 13th baseball coach in program history.

Haire spent 10 seasons as Campbell’s baseball coach. The four-time Big South Coach of the Year led the Fighting Camels to 317 wins, five NCAA Regionals and seven NCAA Tournament wins.

In the interview process, Haire said incoming Ohio State athletic director Ross Bjork made it clear he wanted a baseball coach who is “excited about the program how it is, and has a vision of how we can grow it organically and sustainably.”

But Haire said Bjork did not sugarcoat the baseball program’s standing compared to past programs the athletic director has been a part of.

“A big piece of knowing who you are is knowing who you’re not,” Haire said. “Mr. Bjork’s been at Texas A&M and Ole Miss. He’s been in some of those SEC places. And he was just very honest, like, ‘Hey, we’re wanting to compete and be at that highest level. But the resources are not that. The NIL capability for baseball is not the same as it is at some of those SEC places.’ ”

Bjork is already beginning to make his mark on Ohio State athletics.

While his tenure as athletic director officially begins July 1, Bjork has already been instrumental in the hiring of Jake Diebler to lead the Ohio State men’s basketball program, Miami University’s Kirin Kumar as the university’s new softball coach and Haire. And while Haire said that reality brings pressure, “it’s a good pressure.”

“Of all the people that were interested in this job, that understand that Ohio State baseball is a sleeping giant and ready to, hopefully, turn the corner, (Bjork) gave me this opportunity,” Haire said. “And he believes in me and what will eventually be our staff, and the vision that we have. Because I think he has a vision for what he thinks it might look like too.”

How Justin Haire introduced himself to Ohio State baseball

Haire said he held a Zoom meeting with 10-to-15 Ohio State baseball players Friday morning. And after the week the program had with an unexpected coaching change, he took a step back and started as simply as he could.

“That’s really my first question is just like, ‘Hey man, how are you?’” Haire said. “‘Like how are you doing? How has the last week been for you? Where are you at mentally?’ Because it is a lot. And there’s a lot of people that have a lot of opinions about what these 18-to-22, 23-year-old kids should be doing, what staff members should be doing. And that’s uncomfortable.”

Through those questions, through authentic opening conversations he said would continue into the weekend, Haire said he wanted to make sure the players he’s inheriting know they are wanted at Ohio State.

“It’s my job to assure them that I’m here for their benefit and the benefit of Buckeye baseball, and trying to make sure we marry the two and try to build some excitement back into what they are doing and why they’re here,” Haire said.

In the past two seasons under Mosiello, Ohio State had a record of 60-51. But the Buckeyes won 21 of their 48 Big Ten games.

The next step is where Haire comes in. His job, he said, is to put together the best possible product he can, to identify the right players for his program, to keep the best Ohio high school baseball players in state, and developing a program that is “an avenue for pro ball.”

Haire wants Ohio State baseball to be a program people are proud of. And that process, he said, has already begun.

“We’re tasked with trying to leave this place better than how we found it every single day,” Haire said. “And today’s day one of what I hope is a very long career here of trying to do that every single day.”

cgay@dispatch.com

@_ColinGay

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Ohio

Urban Meyer recalls Pete Rose’s texts about Ohio State football

Published

32 minutes ago

May 10, 2026

Press Room

Urban Meyer recalls Pete Rose’s texts about Ohio State football

Cincinnati Reds legend and well-known gambler Pete Rose was possibly more than just curious about Ohio State football’s 2012 season when he texted Buckeyes coach Urban Meyer.

Appearing on “The Triple Option” show with Alabama running back Mark Ingram May 6, Meyer told a story about his relationship with Rose.

After OSU hired Meyer, the Reds asked him to throw out the first pitch at a game. Meyer threw to his son, Nathan, and walked into the dugout, where Rose, MLB’s all-time hit leader, was waiting to greet him.

“I couldn’t get enough talking about ‘Big Red Machine,’ and he wanted to talk college football,” Meyer said on the podcast, explaining how the two spoke for hours and exchanged numbers.

Meyer said that during his first season, Rose texted him early on. He wanted information about the team, like news on Braxton Miller’s shoulder injury.

“I told that to someone, and they said, ‘You’re an idiot. Do you know he’s trying to get information from you for gambling, and you could get in trouble?’ ” Meyer said.

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Though Meyer asserted that he never disclosed much, he started to steer the conversations clear of college football after he realized Rose potentially wanted information for gambling.

The two had another conversation in Las Vegas, where Rose told Meyer he gambled daily after retiring.

Rose was banned from baseball for betting on the sport, something he admitted to in his 2004 autobiography. Rose was reinstated in 2025 and so is considered eligible for the Hall of Fame.

Still baseball’s most prolific hitter (4,256 hits), Rose died in 2024.

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Ohio

8th Annual Trumbull County Special Olympics Invitational held in Girard

Published

13 hours ago

May 9, 2026

Press Room

8th Annual Trumbull County Special Olympics Invitational held in Girard

GIRARD, Ohio (WKBN) – Over 100 athletes came together for the 5th Annual Trumbull County Special Olympics Invitational Saturday morning in Girard.

These athletes represent five different schools across Trumbull County to compete and spread the message of inclusion, achievement, and sportsmanship.

The Invitational continued its long-standing tradition of honoring the legacy of Randy Suchanek while celebrating the dedication and accomplishments of Special Olympics athletes throughout the region.

“You can hear all the excitement for this, for the athletes that are here today,” said superintendent Bryan O’Hara. “They work hard all year long to participate. We’ve always worked hand in hand with the rotary to get this accomplished is a lot of work behind the scenes.”

Participating schools included Ashtabula, Geauga, Columbiana, Kent-Portage and Trumbull Fairhaven

“There’s a lot of nice participation from girard students as you see behind us, and a lot of participation from the community helping out,” Girard-Liberty Rotary co-president Andy Kish added.

O’Hara added that the event keeps everything in perspective, seeing the athletes compete in the spirit of fun, along with the courage and determination that they show.

Alex Sorrells contributed to this report.

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Ohio

Can you eat Ohio River fish? Just Askin’

Published

1 day ago

May 9, 2026

Press Room

Can you eat Ohio River fish? Just Askin’

Can you eat fish from the Ohio River?

In 1975, future presidential candidate Michael Dukakis, then governor of Massachusetts, bet 20 pounds of New England cod that the Red Sox would defeat the Reds in the World Series. If things went south for Boston, Ohio governor James Rhodes promised to send Dukakis 10 pounds of Lake Erie perch and 10 pounds of Ohio River catfish. The Reds ended up winning and the cod was sent to the Convalescent Home for Children, in Cincinnati.

At the time, people were still eating catfish from the Ohio without too much concern. The fish were also served at several restaurants along the river.

There were warnings in 1977

But two years later, in 1977, The Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission released the results of a study of contaminants found in the tissues of Ohio River fish. They warned anglers in cities such as Pittsburgh, Cincinnati, Louisville, Wheeling and Gallipolis that man-made chemicals known as PCBs, or polychlorinated biphenyls, had been discovered in the river fish. Later, high concentrations of mercury were discovered in the fish, too.

Thanks to the Clean Water Act of 1972 and the environmental regulations that followed, the river is now cleaner than it was in the seventies. And it’s still teeming with a variety of fish, including catfish, striped bass, drum and black bass, among other species.

But even though PCBs were banned by the Environmental Protection Agency in 1979, they are still found in fish, since they remain in the sediment in the bottom of the river. “Organisms live in the sediment and fish feed on them,” Rich Cogen, the executive director of the Ohio River Foundation told The Enquirer. Mercury is also a big problem, according to Cogen.

So the question is: Can you eat fish caught in the Ohio River?

The short answer is yes. But it depends on what species you are eating and where along the river you caught it.

There are also very strict limitations on how frequently you should eat them, according to the web site for the Ohio Sport Fish Consumption Advisory, part of the Ohio Department of Health.

In areas of the river between the Belleville Lock, located 204 miles downstream from the river’s origins in Pittsburgh, to the Indiana border, the advisory agency currently recommends consuming Ohio River fish no more than once a month max. That area includes Adams, Brown, Clermont, Gallia, Hamilton, Lawrence, Meigs and Scioto counties.

Here’s where to check

Recommendations change throughout the year, but you can keep up by visiting the Ohio Department of Health’s Sport Fish Consumption Advisory page, which provides updated information on when certain fish, usually bottom feeders such as carp, are deemed too dangerous to eat at all.

Here’s who should take a pass on Ohio River fish

The agency also warns that people who are more likely to have health effects from eating contaminated fish, includingchildren younger than 15 years old, pregnant women and women who are planning to become pregnant to avoid Ohio River fish altogether.

Just because you have to limit the amount of fish you eat, doesn’t mean the river is a bad place for fishing, as long as you limit your intake or do catch-and-release fishing. Just make sure you have a proper fishing license before casting your line.